Dolly (sheep)

Dolly (5 July 1996 – 14 February 2003) was a female Finn-Dorset sheep and the first mammal that was cloned from an adult somatic cell. She was cloned by associates of the Roslin Institute in Scotland, using the process of nuclear transfer from a cell taken from a mammary gland (somatic cell nuclear transfer). Her cloning proved that a cloned organism could be produced from a mature cell from a specific body part. Contrary to popular belief, she was not the first animal to be cloned. The employment of adult somatic cells instead of embryonic stem cells for cloning emerged from the foundational work of John Gurdon, who cloned African clawed frogs in 1958 with this approach. The successful cloning of Dolly led to advancements in stem cell research, including the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells. Dolly lived at the Roslin Institute throughout her life and produced several lambs. She was euthanised at the age of six years due to a progressive lung disease. No cause that linked the disease to her cloning was found. Dolly's body was preserved and donated by the Roslin Institute in Scotland to the National Museum of Scotland, where it has been regularly exhibited since 2003.