Dolly the Sheep Alive Again

SpeZek writes "Dolly the sheep has been reborn. Four clones have been made by the scientist behind the original research. The quads, which have been nicknamed 'the Dollies,' are exact genetic copies of their predecessor, who was put down seven years ago. The latest experiments were partly carried out to check if improvements to the technique cut the risk of problems in and out of the womb. Named after country and western singer Dolly Parton, Dolly was created from a cell taken from a mammary gland. The rest of the sample of tissue has lain in a freezer since, until it was defrosted to make the Dollies."

Comments

Not alive again

[Culture20]

Stupid journalists and movie makers keep thinking cloning something makes a true copy. These are genetic progeny; Dolly's sisters, not Dolly.

Re:Not alive again

[afidel]

No, they are being cloned from the same sample that Dolly was cloned from. Since the DNA won't be exactly the same as the cell that was used to create Dolly I would say sisters is the most appropriate, unless they used DNA polymerase on the original cell and these are being created from that same cell's mass copied DNA in which case they are simply identical clones of the Dolly line =)

Re:Not alive again

[Atmanman]

Its clear they aren't sisters, daughters or twins. Maybe we need a new word for what they are. Oh wait, we do... they're called CLONES.

Re:I wonder how the pet resurrection is going

[tomhudson]

This makes me wonder how many people are cloning their pets and bringing them back.

I'm not sure I could do that myself. I miss some of mine, but would it be appropriate to bring them back, or should I just get another?

Don't know. But I think about it.

There are so many that need homes right now ... I know that I miss my first Newfie and my St. Bernard, but I also know that when my current Newfie and mutt pass on, there will always be other large dogs that need a home ...

-- Barbie

For years

[Colourspace]

They've been doing this for years in Medicine. Just ask Henrietta Lacks.

Re:A major "con" of cloning falls apart

[Anonymous Coward]

And by breeding hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of Dollys, you make a population that will collapse much faster when that virus or bacteria mutation comes along that has a liking for the Dolly host.

Re:Awesome.

[Dermah]

Haha. I am an athiest, and you are an idiot.

Re:I wonder how the pet resurrection is going

[Dan East]

Too much of the development is dependent upon protein activation times and whole bunch of other stuff I know nothing about, for the cloned animal to be exactly like the original. For example, in the case of cats, the color is not directly determined by the DNA. The cat CC was the first cloned pet, and it did not look like its genetic donor. I imagine behavior is even more finicky, as it is affected by experiences and other such nebulous factors.