In 1996 Dolly the sheep was born at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. In one way Dolly was unique, because she was the first mammal to be produced from cloned adult somatic cells. But in another way she was not unique, because she was genetically identical to a 6 year old Finn Dorset ewe who had donated the udder cell which was to become Dolly!

Dolly was famous throughout the world. The ability to clone an adult mammal had the potential to open many doors in medicine and science – but it also raised many issues which have been hotly debated ever since.

The dreams which seem to have a greater chance of becoming reality since the birth of Dolly are of large flocks and herds of genetically modified clones all producing vital human medicines in their milk, of organs available for transplants all the time with no rejection problems and perhaps, one day, the birth of a cloned human being.

Dolly’s birth has also raised awareness of the many dangers and difficulties of cloning which include abnormalities in cloned animals, a very low success rate – and perhaps, one day, the birth of a cloned human being.