Final answer:
Cloning cancer cells from a breast cancer patient is indeed an option for researchers, allowing them to study identical copies without altering the genetic makeup of the cells.
Step-by-step explanation:
When studying cancer cells from a patient with breast cancer, cloning the cells is indeed an option. Cloning can be used to produce identical copies of the cancer cells, which are already clones of each other, and these cells can then be grown in a culture media for further study. This cloning does not alter the genetic makeup of the cancer cells, which means that the researcher can study the cancerous cells as they existed in the patient.
The process described here resembles somatic cell nuclear transfer, where the DNA from an adult human is introduced into an egg cell, leading to the production of embryonic stem cells for research and regenerative medicine. However, cloning for research purposes, especially somatic cloning as used for cell cultures, does not involve the step of implanting into a surrogate carrier, and is thus a different procedure than reproductive cloning, focusing on cellular rather than organismal replication.