Sad news this week from the scientific community, which announced the death of Dolly, the world’s first cloned mammal. The seven-year-old ewe was put down on Feb. 14 after being diagnosed with lung disease.
Dolly, of the sweet and woolly species much touted in nursery rhymes, was certainly the most famous non-fictional sheep in the world.
In a rare case where a sheep led rather than followed, Dolly was a first in clone research that has since been used in cattle, pigs, goats, mice and cats. It is an impressive legacy for anyone, let alone a sheep.
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Dolly was the “friendly face of science,” said Ian Wilmut, quoted in the Globe and Mail. Wilmut is the scientist who led the team that created Dolly and who has since been at the forefront of cloning technology. In fact, you could say:
Ian Wilmut had a little lamb
It was a clone, you know.
And everywhere that Wilmut went
Clone facts were sure to go.
Said B. Feldbaum, president of the Washington, D.C., based Biotechnology Industry Organization, about Dolly’s demise: “…we can be sure that she opened up significant new areas of medical research and veterinary science that could be of great benefit in the future.”
After reading that, one scribe mused that he hoped accolades of similar magnitude would be forthcoming upon his death, though presumably without the references to veterinary science.
But vet science will play a role in the case of Matilda, the first cloned sheep in Australia. Coincidentally, Matilda also died last week, but of mysterious causes. Her death at age three brings further attention to bear on clones’ suspected tendency toward premature aging. An ordinary sheep lives seven to 10 years.
However, scientists say there are now thousands of healthy cloned animals in today’s world, and research involving Dolly and her counterparts has provided a foundation for further study.
Dolly was an attractive member of her species, which was fortunate because she was quite a media darling. She was almost certainly as attractive as the ewe from which her source cells were extracted. Nearly identical, I’d wager.
The Globe story says her body will be put on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, where her scientific contribution will be noted for posterity.
Farewell, Dolly. Ewe were a credit to your species.
