Source: Times of India
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, April 28, 2002: Ever since Dolly the cloned sheep hit the news in 1997, her progress and life has been watched world-wide. Cloning, using the DNA of an adult cell and injecting it into an egg, has been attempted by scientists around the world. Ian Wilmut, co-creator of Dolly the sheep, has analyzed the findings and has published his research. Wilmut says, “The widespread problems associated with clones has led to questions as to whether any clone was entirely normal.” Dolly the sheep has developed arthritis at an abnormally young age. A cloned calf in France died after living only 51 days because its body could not produce white blood cells. At the Roslin research center in Scotland, the same center where Dolly was produced, a cloned lamb had to be put down because the muscles surrounding the lungs were too large causing the calf to suffocate. Wilmut believes that the problem with clones can be attributed to the behavior of methyl molecules. He says, “Methyl molecules attach themselves to DNA in all cells and help to control many of its functions. The methylation of the DNA in adult cells differs sharply from that of sperm and eggs. When a nucleus is taken from a cell of an adult animal and injected into an egg, its DNA is formatted in radically different ways from that found in sperm.” Wilmut’s research comes at a time when some scientists are attempting to clone human beings. Ian Wilmut warns, “Nobody should be attempting to clone a child. My research suggests that a cloned human would also be at huge risk of genetic defects.”