SCIENTISTS in Scotland have created the first clone of an adult animal. They have taken a cell from a sheep's udder and grown it into a lamb.
The experiment, reported this week in the science journal Nature, took place at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh. A team led by Dr Ian Wilmut took a single cell from a donor sheep and turned it into a viable embryo, which was then implanted into a surrogate mother.
A few weeks ago the mother gave birth to a lamb, named Dolly, which will be shown to the public for the first time on Wednesday. Dolly, who has no father, is genetically identical to the sheep - from which the original cell was taken.
Until now, scientists have achieved only limited results in cloning animals, though the procedure is common in plant breeding. In one case tadpole cells were used to clone frogs.
But, according to a report in yesterday's Observer, the Roslin experiment is the first time a viable offspring has been grown from an adult animal's cell.
"The initial importance is that we will be able to use this and related technologies for important new research in biology and to also make new health care products," said Dr Wilmut. "It will enable us to study genetic diseases for which there is presently no cure and track down the mechanisms that are involved."
If sheep can be cloned, so in theory can humans, but Dr Wilmut yesterday dismissed that idea. In a (BBC Radio 4 interview he said it would he unethical.
The research could help answer many questions about cell biology. It could also be used to produce pharmaceuticals. A line of "altered" sheep at the Roslin Institute (is already producing human proteins important for the treatment of emphysema and cystic fibrosis.