Assertion (A) >: A lock of Einsteins hair, if scientists could locate it and extract its DNA, could help in producing another Einstein, by cloning. Reason (R) >: The DNA extracted from the cell of an embryo at an early stage of development, can be transfe

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Q: 116 (IAS/1994)

Assertion (A): A lock of Einstein’s hair, if scientists could locate it and extract its DNA, could help in producing another Einstein, by cloning.
Reason (R): The DNA extracted from the cell of an embryo at an early stage of development, can be transferred to individual eggs which in turn can be implanted into the uterus of a surrogate mother to give birth to an identical off spring. In the context of the above two statements, which one of the following is correct ?

question_subject: 

Science

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,32,91,48,29,14,32

keywords: 

{'dna': [3, 1, 1, 2], 'einstein': [0, 1, 1, 1], 'embryo': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'scientists': [2, 2, 8, 11], 'hair': [5, 1, 2, 7], 'surrogate mother': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'individual eggs': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'birth': [11, 1, 4, 9]}

Option 1: Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. This would imply that Einstein`s DNA could be extracted and used to clone another Einstein and that the cloning process is correctly explained in R. However, this is incorrect because a clone is a genetic copy, but personality and intelligence are shaped by experiences and not only genetics.

Option 2: Both A and R are true, but R is not a correct explanation of A. This implies that while you could clone Einstein from his hair, the explanation of cloning given in part R isn`t correct. This is also incorrect because, as we established, cloning Einstein in this way isn`t feasible.

Option 3: A is true, but R is false. This statement is incorrect as cloning Einstein isn`t possible, but the process of cloning given in R is correct.

Option 4: A is false, but R is true. This is the correct answer. A is false because it`s not possible to clone someone`s personality or intelligence just from their DNA. But R is true because it accurately describes a general cloning process.

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