Cloning

Question 1

Describe the process of tissue culture

Answer 1

• Small cuttings (explants) are taken from the plant that you wish to clone
• The cuttings are placed in an agar dish containing growth hormones
• Once the new plants have grown enough, they are transferred to soil

Question 2

State 2 benefits of tissue culture (micropropagation)

Answer 2

• Can produce many plants quickly
• Can produce lots of plants with desirable traits

Question 3

Describe how animal cell cloning can be carried out

Answer 3

• The nucleus is removed from an unfertilised egg cell to create an enucleated cell
• The nucleus is removed from a cell from the animal you wish to clone
• The nucleus is placed in the enucleated cell and cell division is triggered by an electric shock
• Once the embryo gets big enough, it is placed in a surrogate mother

Question 4

Give one example of a human protein made by a transgenic organism

Answer 4

Insulin (made by modified E. coli)