What's the difference between mitosis and cloning on the cellular level?

[Squall]

What's the difference between mitosis and cloning on the cellular level?

I need some resident biologists here at Toon Zone to help me out. I have no idea what the answer to this question is... but it is a good question!

:)

[Romanesque]

What's the difference between mitosis and cloning on the cellular level?The difference sort of depends on the context in which you're using the two words.

Mitosis is the process by which a cell splits into two cells, each with the same chromosomes as the original, as opposed to meiosis, in which the split results in two cells that only have one chromosome out of every pair in the original (used to produce gametes). Mitosis implies both the result and the means, which involves a number of division phases. Basically, it's a form of asexual reproduction, and it only applies to the cellular level.

Cloning is a much more vague term which can apply to both cellular and macroscopic levels. To clone a cell just means to make a copy. Mitosis can be seen as cloning, but so could a number of artificially induced methods. Transplanting a cell's nucleus to another cell can cause the host cell to become a clone of the nucleus's original cell under certain conditions, but such would definitely not be mitosis. The same thing goes for reconstructing a certain kind of cell from pieces of other cells; it's effectively cloning, but not mitosis. Then there's artificially induced mitosis, which is obviously still mitosis, but it's also intentionally cloning.

So, like I said, it's all about context...

--Romey