jan 1, 1996 - 1996: Dolly the sheep is cloned

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The world famous Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. The feat was ground-breaking - whilst animals such as cows had previously been cloned from embryo cells, Dolly demonstrated that even when DNA had specialised, it could still be used to create an entire organism.

Dolly was created by scientists working at the Roslin Institute in Scotland, from the udder cell of a six-year-old Finn Dorset white sheep. By altering the growth medium, the scientists found a way to 'reprogram' the cell, which was then injected into an unfertilised egg that had had its nucleus removed. The egg was then cultured to reach the embryo stage, before being implanted into a surrogate mother.

Cloning from adult cells is a difficult process and out of 277 attempts, Dolly was the only lamb to survive. She went on to live a pampered existence at the Roslin Institute and was able to produce normal offspring. Following her death, she was stuffed and put on display, as can be seen in the accompanying image.

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