Discovery Magazine Finds Cloning Has Terrible Trade-offs

The UK beef scare in the news is admittedly worrisome, but many forget that cloning does take place naturally in species. The aspen tree, for example, can reproduce by growing clones of itself. Discovery magazine talks about a recent study of the species that have remarkably created "large stands of trees of more than 100 acres that are essentially the same tree grown over and over again. Some aspens may have used this tactic to survive up to a million years..."

With this ability to duplicate itself over and over again, these trees do experience fundamental changes in the DNA.

Perhaps the biggest disadvantage is mutations, or genetic errors, that gradually and steadily build up in the genetic material of the plants' cells. "The longer you clone yourself the more mutations you build up," California State University, San Diego biologist Dilara Ally explained.

Read the full article here.