Clone

Literally a fragment, the word in modern medical science has come to mean a replica, for example, of a group of bacteria or a macromolecule such as DNA. Clone also refers to an individual developed from a single somatic (non-germ) cell from a parent, representing an exact replica of that parent. A clone is a group of cells derived from a single ancestral cell.

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1. A colony or group of organisms (or an individual organism), or a colony of cells derived from a single organism or cell by asexual reproduction, all having identical genetic constitutions. 2. To produce such a colony or individual. 3. A short section of DNA that has been copied by means of gene cloning. See cloning. 4. A homogeneous population of DNA molecules. [G. klon, slip, cutting used for propagation]

- cDNA c. a duplex DNA, representing an mRNA, carried in a cloning vector.

- genomic c. a cell with a vector containing a fragment of DNA from a different organism.

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clone 'klōn n

1) the aggregate of the asexually produced progeny of an individual also a group of replicas of all or part of a macromolecule (as DNA or an antibody)

2) an individual grown from a single somatic cell of its parent and genetically identical to it

clon·al 'klōn-əl adj

clon·al·ly -əl-ē adv

clone vb, cloned; clon·ing vt to propagate a clone from <frogs have been successfully cloned by transplanting nuclei from body cells to enucleated eggs> vi to produce a clone

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1. n. a group of cells (usually bacteria) descended from a single cell by asexual reproduction and therefore genetically identical to each other and to the parent cell.

2. n. an organism derived from a single cell of its parent and therefore genetically identical to it. The first cloned animal, born in 1997, was produced by fusing a somatic nucleus of the parent with a denucleated egg cell of a second animal. The resulting 'embryo' was implanted into the uterus of a third animal to complete its development.

3. n. (gene clone) a group of identical genes produced by genetic engineering. The parent gene is isolated using restriction enzyme and inserted, via a cloning vector (e.g. a bacteriophage), into a bacterium, in which it is replicated. See also vector.

4. vb. to form a clone.

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(klōn) [Gr. klōn young shoot or twig] 1. one of a group of genetically identical (barring mutation) cells or organisms derived asexually from a single common ancestor. 2. a DNA population derived from a single molecule by recombinant DNA technology. 3. to establish such a progeny or population. clonal adj