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"There is no evidence that cloning was a factor." That simple statement from the post-mortem report of Dolly the cloned sheep, released this week, suggests her death has no special relevance either to cloning research or to the cloning debate.
The report confirmed that she had progressive lung disease. Details of histopathology analysis are due in a few weeks, and should offer more conclusive evidence, especially of any signs of premature ageing.
Even if not scientifically significant, however, it is natural to view Dolly's death as a landmark, prompting reflection on how far cloning has come since her birth, and how far it may go. Such reflections were in abundance over the past week.
For the team who created Dolly, Ian Wilmut declared, "The fact that we were able to produce an animal from the cell of another adult had profound effects on biological research and in medicine."
There are no practical benefits to medicine yet, and when asked about Dolly's legacy Wilmut cited the basic demonstration "that the cells in our body are naturally more versatile — bone marrow cells, for example, might help heal muscle or heart injuries."
Alan Coleman, who was a member of the Dolly team at the time of her birth sounded less convinced that the cloning was not a factor in her premature death, saying "I think it highlights more than ever the foolishness of those who want to legalize [human] reproductive cloning."
But Harry Griffin, acting Director of the Roslin Institute, Dolly's home, remembered her simply as "a self-confident sheep that gave the Institute a great opportunity to explain the new genetics to the public."
Dolly's departure leaves us with a variety of cloned sheep, pigs, mice, cats and hens in research centres around the world. What are these clones for? To what extent will cloning be developed? To what extent should it be? Dolly's death takes us no nearer to answers, but it does close the first chapter of the story.
References
| 1. | | [http://www.roslin.ac.uk/news/press/2003.html]
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| | | Roslin Institute, press release
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| 2. | | [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2764759.stm]
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| | | "Scientists wait for cause of Dolly's death," BBC News, February 14, 2003.
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| 3. | | [http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=208722003]
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| | | J. Gilchrist, "A sheep of faith," The Scotsman, February 19, 2003
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| 4. | | [http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Science/2003/02/15/26797-ap.html]
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| | | AP, "Dolly the sheep's death reveals cloning dangers: co-creator," cnews, February 15, 2003.
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