Edinburgh, Scotland
Going into my senior year of high school, the entire world changed. On July 5th of that summer, Dolly was born, becoming the first-ever cloned mammal. Dolly was cloned from an adult ewe and developed into a full-fledged sheep. During Dolly’s life, she was born as a normal lamb, but she seemed to advance quickly into adulthood, developing arthritis and lung disease. She was eventually euthanized in 2003, but birthed multiple lambs while living in a herd of sheep. Dolly was probably never aware of her celebrity status and fame beyond the farm where she lived.
Dolly began life as a single cell and was born through a surrogate mother. Dolly was named after country music singer Dolly Parton, and she became a lightning rod for wonder and controversy. People did not find out about Dolly’s birth until February 1997, but when they did, they either viewed Dolly as the future of agriculture or a sign of the apocalypse. As for me, Dolly showed scientists what is possible and the science for how it could be done. What we did with Dolly was the same as what we have done with plants for thousands of years, but it became controversial as people started wondering when the science would be transferred to other animals or even humans. The discussion on cloning animals has never been finalized and people today still are unsure if cloning is effective breeding or playing God.
Dolly was an icon, and today she is on display at the National Museum of Scotland. Her exhibit is located on the first floor near the central part of the museum. The rotating platform caught me off guard, but it was good to see Dolly in a place of prominence considering how much her birth and life meant to agriculture, philosophy, and science.