New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cloning

Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of an original organism or thing. A cloning in the biological sense, therefore, is a molecule, single cell (like bacteria, lymphocytes etc.) or multi-cellular organism that has been directly copied from and is therefore genetically identical to another living organism. Sometimes this term can refer to "natural" clones made either when an organism is asexually reproduced by chance (as with identical twins), but in common parlance, a clone is an identical copy created intentionally. Molecular cloning refers to the procedure of isolating a DNA sequence of interest and obtaining multiple copies of it in an organism. Cloning is frequently employed to amplify DNA fragments containing genes, an essential step in their subsequent analysis. Frequently, the term cloning is misleadingly used to refer to the identification of the chromosomal location of a gene associated with a particular phenotype of interest. In practice, localisation of the gene does not always enable one to amplify the relevant genomic sequence. Cloning of any DNA sequence involves the following four steps: amplification, ligation, transfection, and screening / selection.

Related Stories
 


Plants & Animals News

April 28, 2026

A new study suggests Neanderthals didn’t go extinct simply because of climate change or competition with Homo sapiens. Instead, the key difference may have been social connectivity—Homo sapiens formed stronger, more flexible networks that helped ...
A mysterious “golden orb” found more than two miles deep in the Gulf of Alaska left scientists baffled for over two years, sparking wild speculation about its origins. After an intensive ...
Dinosaur DNA may still be out of reach, but scientists are uncovering something almost as exciting—ancient blood vessels hidden inside fossilized bones. In a massive Tyrannosaurus rex nicknamed Scotty, researchers discovered a network of preserved ...
As Alaska’s rivers warm, invasive northern pike are becoming noticeably more voracious. Scientists discovered that pike of all ages are eating more fish, with young pike increasing consumption by over 60%. Warmer water speeds up their metabolism, ...
For ages, wall lizards coexisted in three distinct color types, each with its own strategy for survival. Now, a powerful green variant is taking over. These dominant “Hulk” lizards are outcompeting the others, causing yellow and orange morphs to ...
The golden oyster mushroom may be a culinary hit, but it’s becoming an ecological problem. Scientists warn it’s spreading quickly through U.S. forests, where it outcompetes native fungi and reduces biodiversity. In just a decade, it has appeared ...
Beneath the dry farmland of New South Wales lies a hidden window into a lost rainforest teeming with life from 11-16 million years ago. At McGraths Flat, scientists have uncovered fossils preserved in astonishing detail—not in typical rock like ...
A vivid green pitviper hiding in Sichuan’s misty mountains has been revealed as a completely new species. Scientists had overlooked it for decades, assuming it was a common snake—until DNA analysis proved otherwise. Named after Laozi, it ...
Scientists have uncovered a fascinating new species of pit viper in Myanmar that seems to blur the very definition of what a species is. This snake, now named the Ayeyarwady pit viper, puzzled ...
Scientists at UC Riverside have found a clever new way to outsmart termites—by turning their own instincts against them. Using a natural pine scent called pinene, which smells like food to termites, researchers can lure the pests straight toward a ...
Scientists have discovered that moringa seeds can help pull microplastics out of water, rivaling standard chemical treatments. The plant-based extract causes plastic particles to clump together, making them easier to filter away. In some conditions, ...
Scientists have discovered that methane in the open ocean is produced by microbes under nutrient-poor conditions, solving a long-standing mystery. As warming oceans reduce nutrient mixing, these ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET