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Dolly the Sheep Alive Again

Posted by samzenpus on from the bah-bah-clone-sheep dept.

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."

31 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. Just in time for christmas .... by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Funny
    Bahhhh, Humbug.

    Pass the mint jelly :-)

    1. Re:Just in time for christmas .... by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...freezer... until it was defrosted...

      I don't know, it is never as good after that. But still, with enough jelly...

      --
      This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
  2. Dolly is the new teacup? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm curious to know if Dolly will be the new teacup (used to test rendering algorithms) or Lenna (for image processing).

    Will we be cloning the same sheep over and over again as a common reference?

  3. Re:Dolly Parton by Microlith · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yes, as Dolly Parton is known for her rather... large mammaries.

    http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&biw=1217&bih=766&q=dolly+parton&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

  4. Re:Dolly Parton by CaptainPatent · · Score: 5, Funny

    Glad we could keep you abreast of the situation.

    --
    Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
  5. REINCARNATION DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY! by straponego · · Score: 3, Funny

    GOOD NIGHT!

  6. Not alive again by Culture20 · · Score: 3, Insightful

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

    1. Re:Not alive again by Atmanman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

  7. Re:I wonder how the pet resurrection is going by tomhudson · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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

  8. For years by Colourspace · · Score: 3, Insightful

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

  9. A major "con" of cloning falls apart by Myji+Humoz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    From the article, the original Dolly was put down after about 6 years due to all kinds of medical conditions (infections, arthritis, etc). However, these four sheep are 3.5 years old, and are apparently in perfect health. A major argument against the use of cloned animals in animal husbandry (either cloning particularly tasty animals or using clones to breed) is that cloned animals end up in constant agony due to their origin.

    Since these cloned animals appear just as comfortable and pain free as your "run of the mill" farm animal, it seems as if cloned animals can be just as humane to farm as normal animals. In fact, since the meat yield from each animal is much higher (by definition of selective cloning as the pinnacle of selective breeding), I would argue that using more cloned animals would reduce the ecological impact of the meat industry.

    Ye average American Joe might not want to eat cloned meat, but clones are already breeding like mad to produce more productive offspring. Perhaps this new longitudinal study will give more insights on the ethics and health impacts of cloned meat.

    --
    Signatures are the new names.
    1. Re:A major "con" of cloning falls apart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:A major "con" of cloning falls apart by Myji+Humoz · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The article says that: "Animal welfare campaigners say that cloned animals and their surrogate mothers still suffer immensely."

      The immune system argument is indeed the primary flaw of mass cloning, but our understanding of the role of genetics in forming an immune system is weak at best. However, we do know that immune systems aren't deterministic; genetic makeup X + environment Y doesn't always yield protection Z. As you said, the unsanitary conditions in factory farms induce tremendous suffering in the animals, but it also leads to a serious suppression of natural immune function. They are pretty much saturated in antibiotics from birth to slaughter to suppress infections; their natural immune system are essentially useless in those conditions. I'm purely speculating here, but what if a particular animal or animal line had an immune system that retained most of its function under terrible conditions? What if a particular animal displayed tremendous variability in initial antibody seeding?

      It's tempting to think of animals as computer systems, where a single computer virus can easy take over identical systems with nearly identical ease. However, the immune system just doesn't work like that. To use a crude and somewhat misleading example, factory farms are like networks of computers running Windows XP with no service patch, no firewall, and no built in antivirus. However, every 4 hours, a godlike remote antivirus scan is run, and purges each system. If a virus or a bacterial strain is powerful enough to kill a line of Dollies, it's most likely strong enough to kill a line of sheep on the constant verge of death. Throw in antibiotic overuse, and it seems unlikely that there's a statistically significant risk increase between a factory full of Dollies and a factory full of randoms.

      --
      Signatures are the new names.
  10. Piracy by Degro · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So how long until the first genetic piracy article on Slashdot?

    1. Re:Piracy by SheeEttin · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's been and gone. Haven't you heard of Monsanto?

  11. Re:Dolly Parton by Xeno+man · · Score: 5, Funny

    A few billion Barbie dolls would disagree.

  12. Re:I wonder how the pet resurrection is going by rubycodez · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would think after 3 or 4 incarnations you'd not feel so guilty about putting a bullet in one after it shits on the carpet

  13. Obligatory Dune Reference by fl_litig8r · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dolly Idaho.

  14. So it is written. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Funny

    Abduhl Al-Hazred, in his Necronomicon wrote:

    "That is not dead which can eternal lie,
    And with strange aeons even death may die."

  15. Four sheep at once by hessian · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now that is a Texas-size sexual fantasy!

    --
    Futurist Traditionalism
  16. Re:Dolly Parton by MacGyver2210 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well this news is simply TITillating!

    --
    If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits
  17. Re:Dolly Parton by Mistlefoot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are we only going to here that nice pair of jokes or are people going to keep milking this one?

  18. Reagan by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    The GOP is hoping to clone Ronald Reagan before the 2012 election, being that they are short real candidates.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  19. Re:I wonder how the pet resurrection is going by icebike · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is no bond. Its a new individual. Its all in your head. The animal won't know or care.
    One thing you can be assured of is that it will have a different personality (anamality?). You will probably be disillusioned.

    --
    Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
  20. Re:Dolly Parton by CaptainPatent · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't be such a boob.

    --
    Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
  21. Re:I wonder how the pet resurrection is going by Dan+East · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    --
    Better known as 318230.
  22. Re:Dolly Parton by Qzukk · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are we only going to here that nice pair of jokes

    You could say this thread is a bust.

    --
    If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
  23. Re:I wonder how the pet resurrection is going by amRadioHed · · Score: 3, Funny

    Exactly. When my dear kitty passes on I'm sure she'll want me to give another shelter cat the same chance at a happy life that she had.

    Plus, why would I disturb her from her eternal nap? Surely that's any cat's idea of heaven.

    --
    We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
  24. Re:Dolly Parton by Ihmhi · · Score: 4, Funny

    The whole thing went tits up!

    --
    Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
  25. Re:Awesome. by Custard+Horse · · Score: 3, Funny

    I wonder if they have a hive mind - could this be the first Beowool cluster?

  26. Time to rewrite the nursery rhymes. by Remus+Shepherd · · Score: 3, Funny

    Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was slightly grey,
    It didn't have a father, just some borrowed DNA.
    It sort of had a mother, though the ovum was on loan,
    It was not so much a lambkin, as a little lamby clone.

    And soon it had a fellow clone, and soon it had some more,
    They followed her to school one day, all cramming through the door.
    It made the children laugh and sing, the teachers found it droll,
    There were too many lamby clones, for Mary to control.

    No other could control the sheep; their programs didn't vary,
    So the scientists resolved it all by simply cloning Mary.
    But now they feel quite sheepish, those scientists unwary,
    One problem solved! But what to do, with Mary, Mary, Mary...

    -- by Anonymous (it's not mine; the writer's name is forgotten.)

    --
    Genocide Man -- Life is funny. Death is funnier. Mass murder can be hilarious.