Gene Doping
• Gene + Doping = This refers to those situations when athletes change their DNA to enhance their performance.
• This can be done ex vivo or in vitro Transgenic Organisms
Transgenic refers to an organism or cell whose genome has been altered by the introduction of one or more foreign DNA sequences from another species by artificial means. Transgenic organisms are generated in the laboratory for research purposes such as:
• Monitoring normal physiological development
• Study of disease
• Checking the effect of a Biological Product
• Vaccine Safety checks
• Chemical Safety checks
Animal Cloning
A clone is an exact copy of something. Animal Cloning refers to the development of an animal from a single parent. The parent and the clone have the same genes. But the clone is NOT completely identical: does not always look exactly the same as environment also plays a role in determining physical features of an individual. Animal Cloning is done through a process called as Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Technology. This was first done in the case of Dolly the Sheep by Ian Wilmot.
Word Breakdown: Somatic Cell + Nuclear + Transfer = This technology involves removal of a diploid nucleus from a somatic cell and inserted into the place of the nucleus of the germ cells of the animal. What are somatic and germ cells? What are diploid and haploid cells? We have covered all this before in earlier chapters.
Recently, China has cloned a wild arctic wolf first time in the
world. There are 3 types of artificial cloning:
Gene/DNA cloning: DNA fragment from one organism to a self-replicating genetic element, such as bacterial plasmid. Ex: production of human insulin by gene isolation and GM
Reproductive Cloning: Transferring nuclear material isolated from somatic cell into enucleated egg. Ex: Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer.
Therapeutic cloning: Therapeutic cloning is the transfer of nuclear material isolated from a somatic cell into an enucleated oocyte in the goal of deriving embryonic cell lines with the same genome as the nuclear donor.