clone /(klōn)/

clone

n.
  1. a group of organisms derived from a single individual by some kind of asexual reproduction; -- used mostly of microorganisms such as bacteria and yeast. (Biol.)
  2. an individual organism containing a genetic complement identical to that of another organism, produced by using the genetic material from the second animal in a non-sexual reproduction process. (Biol.)
  3. something virtually identical to another object.

clone

v. t.
  1. to make a clone from; to make identical copies of an organism by a non-sexual process of reproduction. (Biol.)
  2. to grow colonies of a microorganism by spreading a suspension of the microorganism onto a solid growth medium (such as in a Petri dish), at a concentration such that individual colonies will grow from single cells sufficiently well separated from other colonies so that pure cultures derived from a single organism can be isolated. (Microbiol.)
  3. to make large quantities of a segment of DNA by inserting it, using biochemical techniques, into the DNA of a microorganism, and growing that microorganism in large numbers; as, to clone the gene for growth hormone. (Biochem.)