Individual after carbon copy (5)
I believe the answer is:
clone
'copy' is the definition.
(I know that clone is a type of copy)
'individual after carbon' is the wordplay.
'individual' becomes 'lone' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'carbon' becomes 'C' (chemical symbol).
'lone' put after 'c' is 'CLONE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for clone that I've seen before include "Exact replica" , "Propagate asexually; copy" , "Organism reproduced asexually from one ancestor, like Dolly the sheep" , "Biological replica" , "Plant or animal produced asexually from one parent" .)