Cloned or test tube babies. Conceptual artwork of two foetuses developing in flasks linked with coloured tubes. This may represent human cloning or test tube babies. Cloning is a process whereby an organism may be copied exactly by implanting its genetic material (deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA) into eggs from the same species. It is theoretically possible to produce unlimited numbers of identical copies of a person. A test tube baby is one in which the egg is artificially fertilised with sperm in a laboratory rather than inside the mother. This method allows a certain amount of control over the conception: traits such as the gender of the baby can be predetermined.