Cloning is the replication of an exact genetic copy of an organism by use of a somatic tissue (or cell) from the donor organism.

克隆是利用体细胞组织的一个确切的一个生物体的遗传复制的复制(或细胞)从供体生物。

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If a copy of a gene is a bit different from the original, that's called a genetic mutation.

如果一个复制的基因与原来的有些许不同，那就叫做基因突变。

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So before we can ask why we are so fascinated by cloning, we have to examine our souls and ask, What exactly so bothers many of us about trying to make an exact copy of our genetic selves?

因此，我们在扪心自问为什么对克隆技术如此着迷之前，不得不首先审视自己的心灵，问一问：究竟是什么东西使得我们中的许多人对于尝试复制与自身基因完全等同的孪生兄弟那么不安？

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For example, the first genetic copy of a sheep had shortened telomeres.

VOA: special.2009.12.08

In the 1950s Anthony Allison, a British biochemist, observed that Africans who carry a single copy of the genetic mutation that causes sickle-cell anaemia are protected against malaria.

ECONOMIST: Genetics and infectious disease: The germ of an idea | The

While a scientific breakthrough in its own right, it also brings the possibility of curing genetic diseases, growing new organs and even making a carbon copy of human beings one step closer.

CNN: You, again: Are we getting closer to cloning humans?

First, when a new copy of copia inserts itself into a fly's genetic material, it may cause a deleterious mutation to a previously healthy gene (hence all the copia-related mutations detected by geneticists).

ECONOMIST: Truly selfish genes