Mitosis

Mitosis is a type of cell division in which one cell (the mother) divides to produce two new cells (the daughters) that are genetically identical. The mitosis is a part of somatic cell division which includes the division of the nucleus (called mitosis or karyokinesis) and the division of the cytoplasm (called cytokinesis). The type of […]

Interaction of Genes

Genes act by controlling cellular chemistry. Early in the twentieth century, Archibald Garrod, an English physician, made the first observation supporting this insight. Garrod noted that several recessive human diseases show defects in what is called metabolism, the general set of chemical reactions taking place in an organism. This observation led to the notion that such genetic diseases are […]

Transgenic Animals

NEW AND IMPROVED ANIMALS For thousands of years people have improved crop plants and domestic animals by selective breeding, mostly at a trial-and-error level. Woollier sheep and smarter sheep dogs have both been improved through many generations of selective breeding. Obviously, the more we know about genetics, the faster and more effectively we can improve […]

Cloning of Animals

Although the cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1996 created a major furor in the media, from a scientific viewpoint it was a relatively small step in a developing technology. Cloning animals relies on the technique of nuclear transplantation . This actually dates back to 1952 when nuclei from early frog embryos were transplanted into […]