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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."

12 of 233 comments (clear)

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

    Pass the mint jelly :-)

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

    Glad we could keep you abreast of the situation.

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    Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
  3. 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.

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    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.

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

    A few billion Barbie dolls would disagree.

  5. 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

  6. 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?

  7. 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.

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

    Don't be such a boob.

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    Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
  9. 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.

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    Better known as 318230.
  10. 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.

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    If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
  11. 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.