klonu

Klonu is a term associated with the concept of cloning, describing methods that create genetically identical copies of organisms, cells, or DNA sequences. Scientific cloning includes reproductive cloning (producing a living organism with the same genome as a donor), therapeutic cloning (deriving embryonic stem cells for research or therapy, without creating a new individual), and molecular cloning (creating and copying DNA fragments for study).

Techniques: The main approach to reproductive cloning is somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), where a donor cell's nucleus is transferred into an enucleated egg and induced to develop into an embryo, which may be implanted into a surrogate. Embryo splitting is another method. Molecular cloning uses vectors like bacterial plasmids to replicate DNA fragments inside host cells.

History and applications: The first mammal cloned from an adult cell, Dolly the sheep, was reported in 1996, which marked a milestone and launched broader debates about welfare and ethics. Since then, cloning research has advanced in agriculture, medicine, and conservation, but remains technically challenging and heavily regulated.

Ethical and legal considerations: Cloning raises concerns about animal welfare, biodiversity, consent, and potential human applications. Many countries prohibit human reproductive cloning and regulate research to varying degrees.

Linguistic note: In Polish, klon means clone, with klonu appearing in inflected forms; in English, the term clone is used.