It's the stuff of 0) blockbuster (BLOCK) films such as Jurassic Park and Star Wars: cloning is an 1) ...(RESIST) fascinating branch of science. And spurred on by the 2)... (GROUND) advances of the 90s, it is becoming big business. From tomorrow, you can have your own stake in it, too - if you have at least £50,000 to spare. US company BioArts International is holding a global auction for five "dog-cloning service slots" whereby they will provide these 3)... (WEALTH) dog owners with a carbon copy of their pampered pooch.

Understanding cloning means understanding reproduction and the difference between sexual and asexual reproduction. The American biologist George C Williams 4)...(LIKE) it to a lottery: asexual reproduction means many tickets all with the same number, so reducing the chance of success (or survival), whereas sexual reproduction means fewer tickets, but with a variety of numbers, thereby increasing the chances of success.

Cloning leaves us equally intrigued and 5)...(EASY). A recent Food Standards Agency report revealed that consumers are strongly against eating cloned meat.  However, cloning is a fact of life and occurs all around us. Gardeners are experts, making plant clones through leaf or root 6) ...(CUT), and various creatures and creepy-crawlies reproduce asexually through their own version of cloning. But with more "advanced" animals, even after the 7) ...(BREAK)that brought us Dolly the sheep just over 10 years ago, it is still a precarious process.

Scientists have different interests in cloning, including medical advances, 8)...(HUSBAND) and restoring endangered/extinct species. For Best Friends Again, as the dog auction project is called, it's money. They may be offering a free Willy Wonka-style 9)... (GOLD) clone ticket, but the auction seems to be aimed at doting dog owners - with pots of money. The first-ever cloned pet was Little Nicky, a cat. Think about the 10)... (ETHIC) considerations of cloning. Is it right, for example, for rich pet owners to be able to spend tens of thousands of pounds on 11)... (PLACE) a pet, when thousands of strays are killed for want of a home? Take a look back in time and think about an extinct animal such as the auroch, the passenger pigeon or the dodo from those listed at www.extinctanimal.com. Wouldn’t anyone love to have the opportunity to bring back some of the many species that 12)... (HUMAN) has wiped out?