Name: __________________________________ Period: ___________ Date: __________
What Is Cloning??
Directions: For this activity, you will be visiting various sites on cloning.
The first is a site on cloning from the University of Utah. Go to:
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/cloning/whatiscloning/ and
answer the following questions:
1. Define cloning:
2. You might not believe it, but there are human clones among us right now. They are
created naturally and they are called ___________________ _________________.
3. _________________________________________________ is the relatively low-tech
version of cloning. As the name suggests, this technology mimics the natural processes
of creating identical twins.
4. Perhaps one of the biggest differences between artificial embryo twinning is that it occurs
in a _____________ instead of the mother’s body like natural twins.
5. Somatic cell nuclear transfer was the method used to create the famous
__________________.
6. What is a somatic cell?
7. The differences in our ____________ make each person unique.
8. To create Dolly, researchers isolated a _______________ from an adult female sheep.
Next they ____________ the _____________ from that cell into an egg cell from which
the nucleus had been removed. After a couple of chemical tweaks, the egg cell, with its
new nucleus, was behaving just like a freshly fertilized _______________. It developed
into an _______________________, which was implanted into ____________ and
carried to term.
9. What was the name of the first mammal to first be cloned from an adult somatic cell?
10. As a result of cloning, the offspring contains the exact same DNA as the parent. Is this
the case in natural reproduction? Why or why not?? Explain you answer.
HINT: Play the “Natural Reproduction”video for help!
11. Now that you know the basics of how cloning works via somatic cell nuclear transfer, go
to the following website to give it a try yourself:
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/cloning/clickandclone/. Follow the prompts to
clone Mimi the mouse.
12. Which type of cell does Mimi donate? ___________________ Which type of cell does
Megdo donate? ___________________
13. What happens to the nucleus in Magdo’s egg cell? ______________________________?
What happens to the nucleus in Mimi’s somatic cell? ____________________________?
14. Why must we wait for a period of time after this step?
15. Why did you add “Divide-A-Lot” to the cell in the petri dish?
16. Who is Momi? What color is she?
17. What color is the baby mouse?
18. Who did the baby mouse get its DNA from?
19. When and where did real research like this take place?
20. What crucial piece of information did those scientists figure out in order to make this
procedure successful?
Next, go the website http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/cloning/cloningrisks/ and read
about the risks associated with cloning.
21. After you have read about the risks of cloning, write a well developed essay describing your
opinion on the issue of cloning. Be sure to answer the following questions within your essay:
a. Who has the right to have children, no matter how they are created? Who doesn't? Why?
b. Is human cloning "playing with nature?" If so, how does that compare with other
reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization or hormone treatments?
c. Does cloning to create stem cells, also called therapeutic cloning, justify destroying a
human embryo? Why, or why not?
d. If a clone originates from an existing person, who is the parent?
e. What are some of the social challenges a cloned child might face?
f. Do the benefits of human cloning outweigh the costs of human dignity?
g. Should cloning research be regulated? How, and by whom?