A R EVISION R ESOURCE By: Laura Park

C UTTINGS ! One way to clone a plant is to use cuttings. Plants are cloned for different reasons; keeping one with an advantage alive much longer or being able to produce the plant quickly and on large scales. Using a cutting is the simplest way to clone a plant. Using a cutting also means that gardeners or farmers are able to produce these plants in a green house or a specialised environment. This means that using cuttings is the cheapest and most efficient way to clone plants.

T HE C UTTINGS PROCESS 1. A branch from the parent plant is cut off. 2. The lower leaves are taken off. 3. Each ‘cutting’ has a new bud on it, to let it grow. 4. These cuttings are kept in moist conditions, whilst they grow. 5. Once the cuttings have grown enough they are then planted into pots, or gardens. 6. The plant will continue to grow until it is at a sufficient size/shape for the creator. 7. If the creator wishes to keep cloning these plants, more cuttings are taken from the adolescent plants and the process is repeated.

A DVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CUTTINGS AdvantagesDisadvantages Its cheapOnly a certain number of cuttings can be taken Its easy to doThere is no variation It produces many plants at a timeAll susceptible to the same problems Can be done at home or a garden

T ISSUE CULTURE A different way of cloning plants is tissue culture. This method doesn't use small cuttings from the plant, but small pieces or even cells. A lot more equipment is needed. This causes the process to be a lot more expensive than cuttings. This also causes the method to be a lot more difficult to carry out than cuttings. The tissue culture process can not be carried out at home but has to be in a specialised lab. This method is also more time consuming than cuttings.

T ISSUE CULTURE PROCESS 1. Small amounts of the ‘parent’ plant or numerous cells are taken from it. 2. These plant cells or pieces are then put into sterile nutrient agar to grow. 3. Plant hormones are then added to ‘stimulate’ the cells to divide. 4. Cells should then grow quite rapidly into small parts of tissue, also known as ‘masses’ of tissue. 5. More hormones are then added to the tissue for the roots and stem to grow. 6. The small ‘plantlets’ are then transferred into pots to grow even further into adolescent plants of the same parent plant.

A DVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF TISSUE CULTURE AdvantagesDisadvantages Not much space is takenVery expensive Large quantities can be produced at once You need to use a lab All grow at the same speedThere is no variation Can’t be done at home Takes a longer time to develop.

(P ROCESSES OF )E MBRYO TRANSPLANT CLONING There are different ways to clone an animal as well, one of these is called embryo transplant cloning. 1. You take an egg cell from a female with a desirable characteristic. 2. You then take a sperm cell from a male with a desirable characteristic. 3. You then fertilise the egg, and make sure the cells are dividing properly. 4. You then cut the embryo into parts and transfer these parts into numerous host mothers. 5. Once the offspring is born you then have Many prize offspring of the original desired ‘parents’.

A DVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES AdvantagesDisadvantages Makes it possible to chose the sex and time of birth. Does not add variety – so no opportunity for natural selection. Exact copies of the ‘best animal specimens can be produced year after year. All animals will have the same genetic make up – so will all be vulnerable to the same diseases or pests. Could be used for saving endangered species from extinction. Some animal welfare concerns – e.g. About how long cloned animals live.

P ICTURES OF EACH PROCESS Embryo transplant cloning Tissue culture Cuttings