February 14, 2003

scientists comment on death of Dolly the sheep

Scientists reacted to the news that Dolly the sheep, the wold’s first cloned animal, had died at the age of six, suffering from lung disease.

Professor Keith Kendrick, Head of Department of Neurobiology at the Babraham Institute, Cambridge, said:

“It’s not unusual for a sheep to die early or to have a health problem that means they get put down. Of course it would be nice if Dolly had lived to a ripe old age – 11 or 12 for sheep – but as we know from the human population – that doesn’t always happen. Of course had she lived to 12, that would have quashed some of the fears about cloning animals – but based on a number of one, you can’t conclude anything serious one way or another. The door to cloning is still open.”

Matt Ridley, author of Genome, said:

“Dolly’s death is even more evidence of why humans should not try this at home. There’s nothing wrong with cloning in principle – but there’s a lot wrong with it on safety grounds.”

Baroness Greenfield, Director of the Royal Institution, said:

“One should be very careful of knee-jerk conclusions. We can’t rule out that Dolly’s death was connected to her status as a clone – but it’s important for science now to explore other factors involved – including the unusual lifestyle enjoyed by the world’s most famous sheep.”

Dr Harry Griffin, acting director of the Roslin Institute, said:

“Sheep can live to 11 or 12 years of age, and lung infections are common in older sheep, particularly those housed inside. A full post mortem is being conducted and we will report any significant findings.”

Simon Best, Chairman of the BIA (BioIndustry Association) Scotland, said:

“While we are not certain why Dolly has sadly died, we can be sure that her creation has opened up enormously important new areas of medicine and agriculture – areas of science where the UK is a world leader. She will continue to be an extremely important scientific landmark.”