Cloning Dolly: A Decade Later

Ten years ago, the birth of Dolly the sheep sparked a media frenzy and a prolonged ethical debate. Today, the arguments have switched focus to stem cells, and the research itself is beginning to change tack.

Meredith Wadman
"Scientists clone adult sheep — triumph of UK raises alarm over human use," ran the first headline announcing the cloning of an adult mammal ten years ago this week. Ian Wilmut at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh and his colleagues at PPL Therapeutics in East Lothian reported on 27 February 1997 that they had produced a lamb named Dolly, born the previous July, that was the first mammalian clone created using the genetic material from an adult cell.