Plant

cloning

Content

Procedur
e

Definition

Benefit
s

Danger
s

Examples

Developme
nt

Future

Benefits

Dangers

Examples

Definition

deliberate, directed reproduction of plants
using seeds or spores (sexual propagation), or
using vegetative cells, tissues, or organs
(asexual reproduction)  

 is effected in nature chiefly sexually by the seed
and the spore, less often by rhizomes

 vegetative means include cutting, layering,
grafting, tissue culture, and division of the roots and
of the tubers

 most farm and garden crops are propagated by
seed

 but some plants will not breed true from seed and
must be propagated by various vegetative methods
    

Sexual

propagation

Sexual propagation of plants (seed)

 involves the exchange of genetic material between parents to produce a
new generation

Advantages:

 usually the only method of producing new varieties or cultivars

 often the cheapest and easiest method of producing large numbers of
plants

 can be a way to avoid certain diseases

 may be the only way to propagate some species

 seeds and spores are used for reproduction

 seeds are typically produced from sexual reproduction within a species,
since genetic recombination has occurred plants grown from seed may have
different characteristics to its parents

 some plant species do not produce seed until they reach maturity

 seed can be difficult to acquire and some plants do not produce seed at all

Asexual

propagation

Asexual propagation of plants (vegetative propagation)

 does not involve exchange of genetic material ¡ú produces plants that
are identical to a single parent

 accomplished by taking cuttings, by grafting or budding, by layering, by
division of plants, or by separation of specialized structures such as tubers,
rhizomes, or bulbs

 used in agriculture, in scientific research, professional and recreational
gardening

Advantages over seed propagation:



retains the genetic constitution of the plant type almost completely

 faster than seed propagation

 may allow elimination of the nonfruiting, juvenile phase of the plant's
life

 preserves unique, productive or esthetically desirable plant forms

 allows plants with roots well adapted for growth on poor soils to be
combined with tops that produce superior fruits, nuts or other products

Proce

dure

Tissue culture

propagation

 1.step:
• Explants
• Tissue is placed in

tissue culture
container

• Sterilization
• Agar (mixture of

nutrients, sugars,
vitamins,
hormones)

 rapid growth of

tissue

Procedure



2.step:

multiplication

• starts to grow
• production of new
plants
 3. step:
rapid multiplication

• development
starts

• new plants can be
removed into other
tissue culture
containers

 thousands of

new plants can be
produced

Procedure

 4.step:
• when plants are
large enough 

removed into
acclimation
container
 5. step:
• Transplantation
into pots

• growth in
greenhouse

Advantages

 production of

exact copies of
plants

 quickly produce

mature plants

 production of

multiples of plants
in the absence of
seeds

 reduced chances

of transmitting
diseases

Asexual

reproduction

 in-vitro

culture

Development

 Put on market in
early 1990s
 first GM food:
tomatoe



widely spread in

the US



Most common:

soybean, corn,
canola, cotton
seed oil

 Many
controversies
 safety protocol
in Europe 

labelling

Benefits

 plants can be designed to be resistant to herbicides

 gm provides crop failures

 new plants can be created very rapidly (faster than by
nature) and the reproduction is cheaper

 cloning can rid plants of harmful viruses and diseases

 plants which for some reasons can’t produce seeds
(for example cultivated bananas) would not survive
without cloning

 greater uniformity of the cloned plants (good for
landscape designers, hedges, rows of trees etc.)

 no wasting of resources on plants with a poor yield:
optimising the harvest results

Dangers

 loss of biodiversity: there will be lots of the plants

humans consider to be worthy and useful, the other

plants will be forgotten and will get lost between the

cloned plants

 since the first GM food product was lab-tested, all

animals used in these tests have sooner or later died

 temporary control of nature is not possible

 results are not predictable, unwanted results are

not necessarily containable or reversible

 genes can be transported to wild plants superweeds

 potentially disturbing the balance of nature

 loss of gene diversity  thus all these clones will very likely catch the same

diseases

 unpredictable behavior: genes replicate themselves out of control in the

human body

 unpredictable chain reaction  possible diseases

 it could breed new animal and plant diseases, new sources of cancer etc

 resistant qualities of GM bacteria in food can be transferred to other bacteria

in the environment

Examples

 In 1989, dozens of
Americans died of a
genetically modified version
of the food supplement L-
tryptophan creating a
debilitating ailment (was
released without safety test)



37 reported deaths and

more than 1500 disabilities

 the Japanese company
who produced this food
supplement destroyed every
evidence to prevent further
investigation and made a 2
billion dollar settlement

 the loss of biodiversity in our food has
led to an increasing number of food
allergies

 the human body is designed to eat food
which is alive and not copied

 cells in our body realize that gm-food is
no real food, which causes them to
produce antibodies and white cells 

immune system rejects the food and fights
it  allergie!

Future

Development

 increase of GM - products

 more safety testing

 benefits have to outweigh
costs



Drugs in food

 Bananas producing human vaccines
 Fish maturing more quickly
 Trees yielding earlier
 Food without common intolerances