We all know that Dolly is the most famous sheep in the world. She is also the only cloned animal that most of us would be able to name. So it comes as no surprise that it is her health, rather than that of any other sheep or any other cloned animal, that attracts the interest of journalists and broadcasters throughout the world. The latest development - that she has arthritis - has led some to call for a halt to animal cloning. But are they getting things out of proportion?
The arthritis may well be caused by the cloning procedure which brought Dolly into existence. But it might not. Dr Colin Macaldowie, secretary of the Sheep Veterinary Society, said that the arthritis could be due to natural causes, since it is not particularly unusual in mammals. He also suggested that similar types of arthritis could be occurring in other sheep, but goes unnoticed because such sheep are not nearly to so closely monitored as Dolly is. Professor Ian Wilmut also observed that the unusually comfortable surroundings that Dolly has lived in for the past six years might have contributed to the arthritis. 'At one point she was overweight and spoiled. This may sound silly, but also she has spent a lot of time standing on her back legs to get food from the journalists and photographers.'
However, Professor Wilmut is the first to admit that the arthritis could be caused by the cloning procedure. But whilst arthritis is serious, Dolly has got off rather lightly compared to the (often fatal) physical problems apparent in other cloned animals. As animal cloning researchers have been telling us for some time, the technique is not efficient or safe and has led to the deaths of many animals.
This loss of animal life will be unacceptable to those who oppose all animal research. But for others, who feel that it is a question of balancing the risk to the animals against the potential benefit to human beings - be that in medicine production, xenotransplantation or stem cell therapies - it is an avenue worth going down. If we can resist the temptation to get Dolly's arthritis out of proportion, those benefits to humans might come a little sooner.
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