Dolly was a vital part of Roslin Institute's research into genetically modified farm animals. Their work at the Institute was to introduce new, more favorable traits to livestock. Dolly was the very first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. The single adult cell used to clone Dolly contained all of the information for an entire sheep.
Before I get into too many details, it may be helpful to better understand what cloning is. Cloning is a process that creates an identical/genetic copy of a cell, tissue, or even a whole organism (just like Dolly). In order to clone a cell or an organism, researchers transfer DNA from an organism's somatic cell into an egg cell that has had its nucleus and DNA removed. Then, the egg develops into an embryo that contains the same genes as the cell donor. Finally, the embryo is implanted into an adult female uterus to grow. Dolly, however, was cloned by using an adult Finn Dorset ewe mammary gland cell. Electric pulses were used to fuse the mammary gland cell with an unfertilized egg cell.
While Dolly's successful cloning was certainly a massive leap in the field of biology and genetics, Dolly has sparked many ethical debates. After hearing the news of the successful cloning, many people believed that just as sheep were able to be cloned wholly, humans would soon also be able to be cloned. Creating an identical copy of an individual would essentially mean that the cloned individual's freedom would be lost.
Dolly the Sheep eventually died from euthanasia on February 14, 2003, at the age of six. Dolly was euthanized after it was revealed that she had several tumors growing in her lungs. She had lived a very successful life for biologists but could no longer live an unhealthy life.
Works Cited:
The story of Dolly the sheep. (2024, May 15). National Museums Scotland. https://www.nms.ac.uk/discover-catalogue/the-story-of-dolly-the-sheep#:~:text=Dolly%20the%20sheep%20was%20the,both%20scientists%20and%20the%20public.
Blackford, R. (n.d.). Dolly the Sheep and the human cloning debate - twenty years later. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/dolly-the-sheep-and-the-human-cloning- debate-twenty-years-later-63712
Callaway, E. (2016). Dolly at 20: The inside story on the world’s most famous sheep. Nature, 534(7609), 604–608. https://doi.org/10.1038/534604a
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