Hereditary and Asexual Reproduction

Question 1

Asexual Reproduction

Answer 1

Creating a clone of oneself by:
1. Binary fission (e.g. bacteria)
2. Budding (e.g. hydra)
3. Fragmentation (e.g. star fish)

Question 2

Pros and Cons of Asexual Reproduction

Answer 2

Advantages: no need for a mate, no energy needed to court a mate, rapid increase in population
Disadvantages: offspring are genetically identical, if environment changes - whole population could die

Question 3

Cloning

Answer 3

Process of forming a genetically identical offspring from a single cell or tissue –> can be natural (e.g. mitosis, grafting) or created by humans (e.g. biotechnology)

Question 4

Animal Cloning

Answer 4

In 1996, Dolly the sheep was created (since then: goats, cows, rats, etc.)
A body cell from an adult sheep was fused using electric shock to an unfertilized egg lacking a nucleus from a second donor - resulting embryo implanted into third sheep for incubation (two cells and three sheep needed in total)

Question 5

Problems with Cloning

Answer 5

Do not live as long as normal organisms
Suffer from variety of health conditions (Dolly died prematurely of a lung disorder)
Have signs of premature aging like arthritis

Question 6

Genetically Modified Organisms

Answer 6

Cloning used to move genes from one species into another (ex. human insulin put into safflower plants to grow insulin) - other: spider goats, vaccine bananas, glow-in-the-dark mice, etc.

Question 7

Cloning Endangered Species

Answer 7

230 plants and animals in Ontario alone are endangered - captive breeding programs are starting to make use of cloning –> In 2009, the extinct spanish ibex was cloned, however, it died of lung defects

Question 8

Why Not Clone Endangered Species?

Answer 8

1. Egg harvest is challenging - requires extensive knowledge on the reproductive system of an animal
2. Loss of genetic diversity (whole population of inbreeding) - more susceptible to genetic disorders
3. Won’t solve root of problems - poaching, habitat destruction, etc.