LONDON (AP) – Dolly the sheep, the world’s first mammal
cloned from an adult, was euthanized well short of her normal lifespan after
being diagnosed with progressive lung disease, her creators said Friday.
The decision to end the life of 6-year-old Dolly was
made after a veterinary examination confirmed the lung disease, a statement
from the Roslin Institute said. [Full
Story]
Her creators said? Cloning is not an act of creation, they are taking already
created material to clone from. This is like copying an architects plans and
claiming them as your own. There are rumors that Dolly was a two pack a day
smoker which led to the lung disease. She was heavily influenced by Joe Camel
ads she saw at a young age and thought that if it was good enough for the genus
Camelus it was good enough for an Ovis. She also felt sympathetic towards Joe
Camel since they both had a human first name but their last names were derived
from their species.
2 comments
By that definition of creation, Jeff, in-vitro fertilization would be cloning — in a sense — since it is the manipulation of “created material.” (In a certain sense, so would all acts of “creation” since we are building from preexisting material. Only God can ultimately give first existence.)
This isn’t meant to defend cloning or IVF, only to point out that all human creators have to work with preexisting material. Even architects. 🙂
But the news item you reported is scary. If an animal clone died “well short of her normal lifespan,” what does that say about the projected lifespans of the coveted human clones?
BTW, is it possible to darken the letter font in your comments boxes? The light-colored type is difficult to read.