Dolly The Sheep as a Huge Breakthrough in The World of Biotechnology

Dolly the sheep is the first mammal to ever be cloned using an adult somatic cell through the process of nuclear transfer. This is where the nucleus of a cell (a mammary cell in this case) is placed within an unfertilized oocyte, which has had its own nucleus removed. The fusion cell is then shocked, and it starts to develop, then it was placed within a surrogate ewe. This process using an adult somatic cell was the first ever and produced the birth of Dolly the sheep, which was considered as one of the biggest breakthroughs in science, proving that cloning from adult cells is possible. The cloning of the adult cells to create Dolly was performed in the Roslin institute by Keith Campbell and Ian Wilmut in 1996 and the success of the birth was revolutionary in the science world, as the process was so advanced for its time improving upon the previously used micro-injection technology. The science behind Dolly's creation was put under huge scrutiny by the media, due to the large unprecedented attention that was placed on the experiment. Consequently, the media was able to influence the views of the public and the direction science (specifically biotechnology) could take, and the progress it may or may not achieve. In addition to the increased media influence and attention, politicians seemed to take more of an interest in the science surrounding cloning and biotechnology. The success of Dolly increased the involvement of politics and had both a negative and positive impact on the direction and progress of bioscience. For example, in 2012 biotechnology was officially known as the 8th great technology, however, there were also many negative debates following the cloning of Dolly, within the prospect of human cloning, which had a negative effect on the process of biotechnology. The creation of Dolly had large-scale impacts on science creating many negative and positive outcomes for the progress of the subject. However, Dolly is seen as the stepping stone into the use of other environments such as media and politics to further scientific discovery. Thus, as Dolly's main objective was not to clone a sheep, but to improve human health, and due to the impact that she had had on the outside world, and the subsequent advancements made, I believe this objective can be accomplished.

Dolly the sheep was born in 1996 and was the first clone of any mammal done through the process of nuclear transfer and the use of an adult somatic cell. The former process used instead of nuclear transfer was micro-injections, this sort of technology had many limitations and until Wilmut's success with Dolly, scientists had relied upon this process. Micro-injections had several limitations, firstly, it resulted in gene addition but could not be used to remove any so undesired DNA would remain alongside desired DNA in a cell. Secondly, only a small amount of the injected embryos actually results in a transgenic organism (a transgenic organism is something that contains genetic material in which DNA from an unrelated source has been introduced). Experiments and tests which took place in during the mid to late 1900s showed that only 5% of sheep, 9 % of cows, and 20% of pigs that were administered to the microinjection process became a transgenic organism, this shows how unviable this process is and how expensive it could be. Thirdly, the area of which the transgene is placed into the organism's chromosomes cannot be controlled it is random. Also, the transgene that is placed into the foreign body is very sensitive to its environment, this is the reason for the low amounts of successful Transgenic organisms. Finally, the timing of which the transgene is implanted into the organism is vital to producing a fully transgenic organism. Many of the animals used, often are injected when they are more than one cell, subsequently creating organisms that are ‘mosaic' meaning it carries two different populations of cells. The cloning process to create Dolly the sheep was a huge stepping stone in getting away from the limitations of micro-injections, as it was considered a huge advancement in its field and ahead of its time, due to the lack of interest in the subject Dolly was seen as a re-awakening. Nuclear transfer technology after Dolly's birth revolutionized the science behind biotechnology and the prospect of human modification and cloning was established. Dolly's primary objective was to improve human health and the fact that animal DNA can be altered in a viable fashion, it is believed that drugs can be produced from these animals to aid humans. In addition to Dolly's primary objective, the new nuclear transfer technology was also used in other livestock to show that an increased yield could be achieved with this genetic modification. Thus, showing that Dolly had also provided essential information in improving human health and more.

Dolly had a large-scale impact on the advancement of science and this brought a large amount of media attention and scrutiny. Many of the scientists including some who had worked on the Dolly project, glanced and spoke about the prospect for human cloning. This sparked a fury of ethical debates of whether it should be allowed or not. This was the first time in which the media could be accessed and seen to influence the progress of science. For example, The Times and Nature saw potential human cloning as assembly line production like that of Fordism, thus they used particular slogans such as 'CLONING IS MASS PRODUCTION' and 'CLONING IS COPYING'. In the early years following Dolly, this was the kind of attention the scientists and the science behind the process were receiving. The media used a particular argument to limit the progress of science through the view that science is based on making progress and advancements. However, within the debate that followed Dolly's creation hinted at the fact that if human cloning was allowed, it would actually be going against the basic goal of science, to make progress. This is due to human cloning ultimately preventing certain characteristics and limiting the originality of each human, not letting the human race change, adapt and progress. Views like this were able to shape the progress of science, particularly in the early years after Dolly, with the media stating that people would lose their identity if cloning was allowed and saying was science ‘going too far?'. This prevented academic input into the public debate as the media had taken such interest in the cloning process that they had fuelled the public view and fears on cloning this limiting academic influence. However, in the later years following Dolly's birth, the media went on to support certain aspects of the cloning process to help progress the science towards stem cell research and finding improvements to human health. As scientists had discovered that the nuclear transfer process developed during the creation of Dolly, could use specific stem cells to implant into diseased tissue and cure it without the immunological consequences which used to occur during previous transplants. The media showed their interest in the process of stem cell research outlining its benefits and stating that it could be used to save endangered species, produce biopharmaceutical products or improve human health. So as time has moved on the media have changed their views on hindering scientific progression and switched to helping stem cell research and since this change of heart 60-70% of the public now supports the use of stem cells in the improvement of human health. This shows the effect that the media has had on the progress of science due to the overwhelming success and controversy that Dolly received and created since her birth.

In addition to the increased media attention, there was large-scale political involvement in science after Dolly's birth. The politicians acted a similar way to the media in the early years surrounding stem cell research and Dolly's cloning process, showing negative responses to the experiment. For example, in Australia in 1997, the government called for a nationwide ban on human cloning and denied the use of any federal funds to further the research. In addition to this in the UK in 2001, the government released the Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001, which ultimately prevented the placing of an embryo inside a woman that had been created otherwise than by fertilization. This view was adopted by politicians as they had a similar standpoint as the media, however, it didn't take much longer for them to change their minds and administer help towards developing stem cell research. This occurred because the scientists who were orientated around stem cell research changed their practice from reproductive cloning to therapeutic cloning it showed an abundance of medical benefits if it was accessed fully. Governments across the world were encouraged to see this change and in the UK in 2012 Biotechnology was announced to be the 8th great technology. In addition to this in 2006 in the USA, the Missouri state government amended their constitution to allow any type of embryo research which were not strictly banned by federal laws. Due to the change in view towards the use of stem cell research, there has been a resurgence of political support and therefore money which is allowing for the advancement of this particular science. For example, in the USA the government had provided over $600 million towards stem cell research, alongside this, certain states have also provided such as California who has provided $200 million. The process to create Dolly wasn't fathomable at its time of creation, thus causing the early hindering of stem cell research. However, as the views of science changed to accommodate therapeutic cloning, politicians were able to see the benefits and this would not have been possible without the birth of Dolly.

Dolly the sheep was a huge breakthrough in the world of biotechnology, opening up many new avenues in which scientists could access and exploit. The success of Dolly rectified all the limitations that the previous micro-injection process had and replaced them with the new more viable option of nuclear transfer. The process of Nuclear transfer had allowed scientists the opportunity to glimpse at what was possible in the future in the form of stem cell research and the possible improvements in human health and increased yields in livestock. However, it was tough to make any progress on these fronts in the early stages due to the hindrances that the media and politics had placed on cloning seeing it as inhumane and limiting a person's originality and individuality. The movement away from reproductive cloning to therapeutic cloning was key for Dolly to be seen as a success, as subsequently money was pumped into the system. Due to this, I believe that Dolly's primary objective of improving human health could be achieved as the process and science behind her creation had opened up a whirlwind of opportunities to develop and enhance the science and ultimately achieve her main purpose.

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