Birthday party for first clone should be a Dolly good show

WITHIN hours of her birth, she became the world's most famous sheep.

Now, ten years on, a birthday party with a difference is to be held to mark the landmark anniversary of the creation of Dolly - the planet's first cloned mammal.

Hundreds of visitors are expected at to the National Museum of Scotland next month for a series of special events organised to coincide with Dolly's unveiling.

Children's workshops, activities, question and answer sessions and debates will all feature in event, which is being held on Dolly's "birthday".

The National Museums of Scotland and the Royal Society of Edinburgh have joined forces to organise the "Dolly Day" birthday party.

Although Dolly was born in July 1996 she was not unveiled to the world until February 14 the following year as the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

Scientists at the Roslin Institute, in Midlothian, created Dolly by using groundbreaking genetic engineering techniques.

Among the highlights of the museum's programme are a chance to discuss the creation of Dolly with her creator, Ian Wilmut, talk to the vet who cared for her, view her bones and other rarely seen material, hear how she came to be preserved by the museum and debate her legacy.

Youngsters will be able to make their own paper chain of identical sheep, take home a sample of their own DNA and quiz Dr Wilmut about his famous creation.

Hannah Dolby, of the National Museums of Scotland, said: "Television crews came from as far afield as Australia, Korea and China to film Dolly in 2006 alone, which just goes to show that she is still the focus of attention for the world's media. We're delighted to be working with the Royal Society of Edinburgh to mark the time when her significance first reached the public eye."

A clone is any organism whose genetic information is identical to that of a "mother organism".

Until Dolly, most biologists thought cells from an adult creature could not be used in cloning.

Dolly was produced using a technique called nuclear transfer or cell nuclear replacement. Cells from the udder of a six-year-old Finn Dorset ewe were cultured for several weeks in a laboratory.

The genetic material in an unfertilised egg was then replaced with individual cells from this culture, before being implanted into a surrogate mother. Dolly was born 148 days later.

Dolly was put down on in February 2003, after she was found to have Jaagsiekte disease, a virus-induced lung tumour, days after developing a cough.

Her skin was removed, pickled in formic acid and tanned to preserve it. A mould was taken of her skeleton, with Plasticine used to recreate muscle. A glass-fibre cast was made from the mould, with the skin and fleece stretched over it. Her pink nose was painted to replace the faded colour, with glass eyes and synthetic hooves added. Her bones are kept in the museum's research collection.

Since February of last year Dolly has been featured as part of the new science and technology gallery at the museum, alongside other iconic inventions such as an SF-2 Formula 1 racing car from Jackie Stewart's Stewart Ford team and a Gemini space capsule built by Nasa in the 1960s.

Among the other experts taking part in the day are Dr Donald Bruce, of the Church of Scotland's society, religion and technology project, Edinburgh University professor Grahame Bulfield and Dr Andrew Kitchener, principal curator of mammals and birds.

TRIUMPH FOR SCIENCE THAT PAVED WAY TO CONTROVERSY

SINCE the success of Dolly's creation, other large animals have been cloned, including horses and bulls.

Dolly, who lived from July 5, 1996 to February 14, 2003, was the first mammal to be successfully cloned.

The sheep was originally code-named "6LL3" with the name Dolly apparently chosen in honour of Dolly Parton, because it was a mammary cell that was cloned to create the famous animal.

When Dolly was cloned from a cell taken from a six-year-old ewe, she became the centre of great controversy that still rages today.

Cloning is considered by some as a promising tool for preserving endangered species.

However, most animal conservation professionals point out that cloning does not alleviate the problems of loss of genetic diversity and habitat.