Clones are genetically identical individuals. The cloning of plants has many important commercial implications. It allows a variety of a plant with desirable characteristics to be produced cheaply, quickly and on a large scale. Cloning often follows genetic engineering. It allows many copies of the new organism to be produced.
Cuttings
The simplest way to clone a plant involves taking a cutting. This is an old but simple technique, used by gardeners. A branch from the parent plant is cut off, its lower leaves are removed, and the stem is planted in damp compost. Plant hormones are often used to encourage new roots to develop. The cutting is usually covered in a clear plastic bag to keep it moist and warm. After a few weeks, new roots develop and a new plant grows.
Tissue culture
Another way of cloning plants is by tissue culture. It works with small pieces of plants, called explants. These are grown in vitro using sterile agar jelly that contains plant hormones and nutrients. This makes tissue culture more expensive and difficult to do than taking cuttings. This is an important way to preserve rare plant species or grow commercially in larger nurseries.
The process of cloning plants by tissue culture
Cloning expensive food crops has been carried out for many years, and causes the public fewer ethical and moral concerns than animal cloning.