Exam Tips: Cloning

Know both plant AND animal cloning: Exam questions could ask about tissue culture (plants) or adult cell cloning (animals). Practise describing both. They are distinct processes — do not confuse them.

The surrogate mother contributes environment, not genes: In adult cell cloning, the offspring is genetically identical to the nucleus donor, not the surrogate. Examiners test this regularly on both AQA and Edexcel.

Clones and phenotype: If asked whether a clone would be identical to the original, say "identical DNA but not necessarily identical phenotype" — then explain that the environment affects gene expression. This shows higher-order understanding.

Ethical questions — both sides are required: For any cloning ethics question, you must present arguments for AND against. A fully one-sided answer cannot access the top mark band on an evaluate question.

Edexcel conservation and therapeutic cloning contexts: Edexcel 1BI0/1 may present cloning in the context of conservation biology (e.g., tissue culture of endangered orchids) or medical research (therapeutic cloning for stem cells). For conservation questions, explain the advantages of tissue culture: rapid production of many identical plants, preserves rare alleles, disease-free stock. For therapeutic cloning, explain that the stem cells would be genetically matched to the patient, reducing rejection risk — but note the ethical concerns about using embryos.