Self Assessment Answer # 6
for Lesson 3

by Dr Jamie Love © 2002 - 2005
Genetics Course

Dolly is a clone because she was produced entirely by mitosis! Her very first cell was NOT made by the fusion of a male and female cell. Those cells require meiosis to be created.
Instead, Dolly has the exact same genetic materials as her genetic "mother". She has no "identical twin sister sheep" but she could have one and still might one day. Just because she has no sister clone that does not make her a "nonclone". Dolly's "mom", who was actually long dead when Dolly was created, is the first mammal to reproduce by mitosis! Dolly's mom's somatic cells, not gametes, provided the nucleus that created Dolly.

By the way, you can read about the Cloning of Dolly at Science Explained. This is "extra reading" and it is not required for our Genetics course. Indeed, the technical side of cloning has very little to do with genetics - it's mostly about embryology and cell biology!

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Dr Jamie Love, the producer of these Genetics lessons, has written several self-study science courses specifically designed for home schoolers and other distance learners. These courses are "hypertextbooks" - delivered over the internet and read on your computer, just like web pages.
To organize and distribute these hypertextbooks, Jamie created Merlin's Science Academy - a (non-accredited) "virtual school". Merlin's Science Academy sells self-paced, self-learning hypertextbooks that teach Alchemy (actually, Chemistry ), Astronomy and Genetics in a fun and unique way.
Each course has computerized exams, unique features and a style best suited for teaching the subject.

Principles of Alchemy (Chemistry) is for younger students (up to highschool),
while Principles of Astronomy is for more advanced students (hobbyists & first-year university),
and Principles of Genetics is most suitable for very advanced students (at university).

However, every student is different and it would not be fair to generalize. So, visit Merlin's Science Academy where you can learn more about the courses, request free samples of each course (to download onto your computer) and enjoy the free online samples.

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