This exam focus covers Exam Focus within Cloning for GCSE Biology. Cloning techniques, applications, and ethical considerations It is section 10 of 12 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
Topic position
Section 10 of 12
Practice
25 questions
Recall
20 flashcards
Exam Focus
Frequently ExaminedCloning questions at GCSE most commonly focus on the process and ethics. Key areas to prepare:
- Dolly the sheep process (3-4 marks): Know each step in order. Examiners expect: remove nucleus from body cell, remove nucleus from egg cell, insert body cell nucleus into egg, electric shock, implant into surrogate. Missing any step costs marks.
- Tissue culture (2-3 marks): Describe what it is used for (rapid production of identical plants, preserving rare species) and the basic method (cells in sterile nutrient medium).
- Ethical considerations (2-4 marks): Always present both sides. "It is wrong to clone humans" alone scores nothing — explain why some people hold that view and why others disagree.
- Clone vs identical twin: Know that both are natural clones with identical DNA, but identical twins develop from a split fertilised egg while Dolly was produced by nuclear transfer from an adult body cell.