Question

Why can an offspring produced by asexual reproduction be called as a clone? Give reasons.

Answer 1

Hint: Clone is an organism obtained from the parent which is exactly alike or similar to the parent. The genetic composition is retained in both parents and the offspring. The clone can be obtained both naturally and artificially.

Complete answer:
Asexual reproduction is the method of reproduction in which the union of male and female gametes does not. A single father or mother divides and redivides to produce the offspring. The offspring produced are morphologically and genetically similar to the parents. These offspring are known as clones which retain the character of the parent. Certain modes of asexual reproductions which involves producing clones are binary fission in Amoeba, fragmentation in starfish, budding in hydra, vegetative propagation in plants etc.

Whereas in case of sexual reproduction, the male and female gametes fuses to form offspring. It involves intermixing of the genes. The offspring shows the character of father as well as mother. They are neither genetically nor morphologically similar to that of the parents. So they are not called clones.

Note: With the advances in biotechnology, many animals have been cloned in the laboratory. One such instance is Dolly. The first sheep to be cloned is named Dolly in 1996 by the Roslin Institute. In the future, cloning may want to be used in increasing the number of endangered organisms. Cloning is largely used in Animal husbandry. Cloning is the process which involves the method of Genetic engineering.