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Dollythe first mammal, a sheep, to be created by the cloning of an adult cell by NUCLEAR TRANSFER (see also ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION). The nucleus from a quiescent (see QUIESCENCE), adult udder cell of a finn Dorset ewe was transferred into an unfertilized OVUM from which the nucleus had been removed i.e. an enucleate OOCYTE, of a Scottish Blackface ewe. Electric current was applied to induce EMBRYO formation and the embryo introduced into a surrogate Blackface ewe. The process was repeated 276 times.
A lamb was born, called Dolly, to the Blackface ewe, but with almost identical genetic make-up to the finn Dorset ewe from which the genetic material derived.
The creation of Dolly demonstrated that adult cells could be reprogrammed for embryo development.
Dolly developed ARTHRITIS at the relatively young age of 5.5 years, and at 6 years was euthanased, due to development of a progressive lung disease. Whether this was a consequence of the cloning process is unknown.