Death of Dolly the sheep sparks new concerns over cloning safety

THE death of Dolly the sheep, the first animal to be cloned from an adult cell, sparked renewed fears over the safety of cloning techniques last night.

The Roslin Institute announced the decision was taken to "put down" six-year-old Dolly after a veterinary examination showed that she had a progressive lung disease.

Dolly was cloned from the breast cell of a six-year-old adult ewe and born on July 5, 1996 at the Roslin Institute in Scotland.

Her birth was only announced seven months later and was heralded as one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs of the decade.

The institute said a full post mortem would be carried out.

Dr Harry Griffin said: "Sheep can live to 11 or 12 years of age and lung infections are common in older sheep, particularly those housed inside."

Her body has been promised to the National Museum of Scotland and will be put on display in Edinburgh.

Expert on the ethics of human cloning, Dr Patrick Dixon, said the nature of Dolly's death would have a huge impact on the possibility of producing a cloned human baby.

Religious sect Clonaid has claimed to have cloned three human babies in the last six weeks but the scientific world remains unconvinced.

Dr Dixon added: "Whether or not you believe Clonaid's claims, it now seems inevitable that human clones will be born somewhere in the world this year.

"The greatest worry many scientists have is that human clones even if they don't have monstrous abnormalities in the womb will need hip replacements in their teenage years and perhaps develop senile dementia by their 20th birthday.

"This is why Dolly's health is so crucial and why scientists around the world will be waiting for the results of the post mortem."