Help please - trying to help son with his GCSE science. Can a cloned person or tomato even reproduce itself by normal means?

2mbarassed2say

Yes if http://www.advance.uconn.edu/01061103.htm is anything to go by. Sorry about the first reply as it was no help what so ever. Feb 09 03, 6:51 PM

Jojo	Oh bother!! I obviously have not got the hang about genetics. I was convinced that the text book 'implied' that cloning a species meant that normal reproduction was not feasible. Feb 09 03, 7:12 PM

sequoianoir

sequoianoir says: My understanding is that YES they can. A clone is an identical copy of the original. Identical as far as genes and chromosomes etc... Providing the original is not infertile, then the clone should not be either. Identical twins are technically 'natural' clones, which is why genetisists are so interested to find anything remotely different between them. As far as I know both are always fertile or both not, never one of each, unless one has grown or sustained damage in the womb to cause 'deformity' Sun Feb 09 14:21:19 CST 2003 (Delete Entry) Forgot to add: It appears 99% of Internet information where 'clone' and 'infertile' are used in the same sentence (possibly like the text book 'implied') is that the 'need' for cloning is because the person is infertile and cannot reproduce through normal methods (including IVF etc. because the man has no sperm or the woman has no eggs) Thus a woman cloned has a 'daughter', a man cloned has a 'son' but if the 'parent' has done this because they are infertile then their 'child' will also be infertile! Sun Feb 09 14:30:10 CST 2003 (Delete Entry) (Reposted as one entry - McG) Feb 17 03, 12:58 PM