Question

What is a clone? Why are clones not produced during sexual reproduction?

Answer 1

During asexual reproduction, there is no fusion of gametes and a single parent divides and redivides to produce the offspring. Hence, the offspring are morphologically and genetically similar to the parents.

Complete answer: An individual grown from a somatic cell or cell nucleus and genetically identical to the parent is known as a clone. It is seen in single-celled organisms and plants. Many multicellular organisms undergo the process of sexual reproduction which involves hybridization of genes of two individuals (parents), making it impossible to form an identical copy or clone of either of the parents. Sexual reproduction involves the requirement of two cells; when the haploid egg and sperm cells fuse, a diploid zygote results. The zygote instils the genetic information within itself to produce a new individual. During sexual reproduction, a single-celled zygote is formed which includes genetic material from both gametes. In genetic recombination, genetic material (DNA) joins so that homologous chromosome sequences are aligned with each other, and it is followed by an exchange of genetic information. On the other hand, cloning produces genetically identical individuals of an organism either naturally or artificially. In nature, many organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. The offspring might resemble the parents but are not clones.

Note: With the advances in biotechnology, many animals have been cloned in the laboratory. One such example is Dolly. The first sheep to be cloned was named Dolly in 1996 by the Roslin Institute. In the future, cloning could be used to improve the population of endangered organisms as well as there is a slight possibility to bring back recently extinct animals as well.