Cloning

Cloning is the process of making copies of a specific piece of DNA, usually a gene. When geneticists speak of cloning, they may not mean the process of making genetically identical copies of an entire organism, but of making a copy of a small piece of DNA. To date, the highest species to be cloned are non-human primates. There are currently strict NIH regulations against the cloning of humans; few groups support the cloning of entire humans, though the cloning of select organisms in host animals (e.g. growing replacement human hearts in pigs) is a long term goal of the scientific community. Recently, proof-of-concept experiments growing cloned rat organs in mice and via versa have demonstrated the feasibility of one day growing cloned human organs in host animals.^[1]

Endangered species[edit]

Cloning is used to replicate endangered species and avoid extinction. As announced in February 2021, cloning successfully created the first American endangered species: a black-footed ferret. It was duplicated from the genes of a black-footed ferret which died more than 30 years earlier, and born on December 10, 2020.^[2]

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