Cloning is providing novel approaches to providing new cells, either ones taken from the patient and cultured, or ones donated by other humans or animals. The cloning of humans has been a heated topic of discussion since the news of Dolly the cloned sheep hit the stands, and though there could be many uses of a genetically cloned human, in general, the majority of people are opposed to this idea because of moral and ethical reasons. One of the biological principles that one must be familiar with in order to understand this article is the principle of DNA, chromosomes, and genes, and the roles they play in determining inheritance. DNA is a material that makes up chromosomes, along with proteins. DNA is made of a sequence of amino acids, and this sequence determines a specific code, or a gene.
Genes are what determine all characteristics of a being, such as eye color, height,or blood type.
We can think of genes cumulatively as the blueprint for building a eukaryotic being. Genes are located on the chromosomes, and their could be many genes on a chromosome or few. During sexual reproduction, a zygote, or future baby, receives half of their chromosomes from their father, and the other half from their mother. This combination of chromosomes and genes creates a biologically diverse organism, different in many ways from their parents. During reproduction, the zygote receives their own blueprint, allowing them to display their own unique array of characteristics, and this is called inheritance.