One of the creators of Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal, has died at the age of 79.
Professor Ian Wilmut's work at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh has laid the foundations for stem cell research.This technology aims to treat many age-related diseases by allowing the body to regenerate damaged tissue. His legacy is the creation of a field called regenerative medicine, which has great potential to help more people live longer and healthier lives. Dolly's creation in 1996 was perhaps one of his greatest scientific achievements of the 20th century. Professor Wilmut was one of the leaders of a team that used cells from the mammary glands of dead adult sheep to create live animals that were genetically identical to the donor.
The process involved inserting DNA from an adult cell into an empty sheep egg. The researchers then stimulated it with electricity and additional chemicals to rejuvenate the adult's DNA into a fetus. This was then transplanted to a replacement sheep until birth. Scientific development can mean more than just the advancement of knowledge. Sometimes they change everything. Viewing the Earth from space and the explosions of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought about major cultural changes in the way we viewed ourselves and the world around us. At the time, the birth of cloned sheep Dolly felt like a moment in time. When Dolly, cloned from the cells of an adult sheep, arrived more than 25 years ago, there was equal parts elation and fear. This is an incredible scientific achievement and I was lucky enough to be able to cover this amazing story for his BBC News.
But Dory's message that she was created to develop new treatments was initially drowned out by concerns that humans would be next in line. Then-US President Bill Clinton immediately announced a ban on human cloning experiments with great fanfare, reflecting national sentiment. “[Technology] has the potential to threaten our ideals and the sacred family bonds that are at the core of our society,” he said. But when I met Dory's creator, it was clear that he was no Dr. Dory. It was Frankenstein. A gentle and humble person, he was not happy about being in the spotlight internationally. However, despite the discomfort, I felt it necessary to explain that Dory's creations are meant to improve humanity, not replace it. He told me that his burning ambition was to find cures for debilitating diseases. The same technology used to develop Dolly can be used to grow brain and muscle tissue that can be transplanted into patients. After solving Dolly's problems, Professor Wilmut shows her around the lab where she was created. He told me that his goal is to take cells from patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, for example, and return them to their fetal state. But instead of allowing so-called embryonic stem cells to grow into clones of a patient, they could be turned into nerve cells that could replace damaged parts of a patient's brain.
The use of human embryonic material was controversial and so research into so-called therapeutic cloning was banned in many countries, including several states in the US. But years after the birth of Dolly, Japanese researchers built on Prof Wilmut's work and found a way of creating cells that behaved in the same way as embryonic stem cells without using cloning, called Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (IPS).
Researchers around the world have succeeded in growing a wide range of cells using IPS. Careful work is under way to make sure that the cells are safe to use and will be effective before they begin clinical trials on patients. Looking back, Dolly's birth was not the paradigm-shifting moment that many expected or feared at the time. There were no clone armies of super soldiers or loved ones raised from the dead. There was also no dramatic miracle cure, at least not yet.
But Professor Wilmut's creation, Dolly the cloned sheep, remains a symbol of science and represents an outstanding scientific achievement by Roslyn researchers. The team will revolutionize medical research, ultimately meaning more people can live healthier and longer lives.
Sapna
Software engineer, Banglore
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