In nature, cloning is common among plants and is used extensively
in plant propagation. The offspring produced by cloning simply
develop from cells produced by the parent. Because the offspring
have genetic information identical to the parent, they develop
very similar characteristics
to their parent (and to one another) as they mature. This means
that an agriculturalist who grows new plants from pieces of an
older plant ensures that the new crop will be a fairly
uniform one. In contrast, an individual formed by sexual reproduction
develops from a cell produced by the union of two cells, usually
from different parents. Offspring produced in this way are not
genetically identical to each other or to their parents, unlike
offspring formed by asexual methods of reproduction.
Why were the words"similar"
and "fairly" used instead
of "identical?"
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Rice paddy (California) |
Day 22 (Lab day 2) |
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Callus, day 33 (Lab day 3)
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Shoots, roots, day 63 (Lab day 4) |
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The end of the semester! |
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