Surprise, disbelief and sometimes a sense of horror. When on February 22, 1997, the news of the first successful cloning of a mammal in the form of Dolly the sheep made headlines around the world, it provoked huge reactions.
The discovery sparked fantasies, hopes and fears, many of which proved unfounded. Clowns of Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein and Claudia Schiffer paraded on the cover of Spiegel.
The famous German immunologist and genetic researcher Klaus Rayevsky believed that the result was a laboratory error. “I still do not believe it is possible for a fetus to be cloned from the body’s cells,” he told a conference three weeks after the announcement of the discovery. But he was the one who was wrong.
Dolly increased her interest in science
25 years later, things have calmed down. Cloning is no longer performed at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, where Dolly was once created. However, the director of the institute, Bruce Whitlow, is grateful for the interest in the science that Dolly brought with her at birth. “He brought biology to breakfast and dinner, to the walk, to the bus, everywhere. “This increase in interest in science and public awareness is perhaps one of Dolly’s greatest legacies,” he said.
The scientific value of Dolly’s creation was not what the headlines described 25 years ago – it was not the creation of a genetically identical copy. It was more important to prove that the cells of the body, which already have a specific function in the body, are transformed again into the so-called stem cells, whose function has not yet been determined.
Dolly was born from the breast cells of a six-year-old sheep. “This idea that a cell can be reprogrammed has been one of the driving forces behind all of Dolly’s stem cell research,” says Bruce Whitelo. “Until then, we only knew about evolution through embryonic cells.”
Doubtful if a cloned human will ever be created
Fears that human cloning would not stop turned out to be wrong. But Whiteloe says the debate was important in setting the standard for science.
Human clones have not yet been created. Andrew Kitchener of the National Museum in Edinburgh, where Dolly can be seen as a doll, does not think that will happen. as it lacks practical utility. In addition, human cloning is banned worldwide for ethical reasons. “I can not imagine the circumstances under which this could change,” he said in an interview with the German news agency.
Cloning is now done mainly for commercial purposes. Among other things in livestock for the reproduction of special characteristics, such as for the reproduction of racehorses. Some people clone a favorite pet again. Offers for dog clones are available online for around 44,000 euros.
More promising than cloning an individual for industry and science is the Crispr / Cas method, also known as molecular scissors, which is used to precisely modify the genome of cells. The method also promises a lot for the treatment of diseases such as AIDS or certain cancers.
Deutsche Welle
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
