Scientists use sheep's DNA to produce first-ever clone

NEW YORK (AP) - Researchers have cloned an adult mammal for the first time, an
astonishing scientific landmark that raises the unsettling possibility of making
copies of people.

Scientists slipped genes from a 6-year-old ewe into unfertilized eggs and used
them to try to create pregnancies in other sheep. The result: A lamb named
Dolly, born in July, that is a genetic copy of the ewe.

The feat opens the door to cloning prized	farm animals such as cattle, and
should make it much easier to add or modify genes in livestock, experts said.

Researchers used DNA from the ewe's udder	cells, proving that mature mammal
cells specialized for something other than reproduction could be used to
regenerate an entire animal.  Scientists had thought that was impossible.

Experts said the same technique might make it possible to clone humans, but
emphasized that it would be unethical to try.  "There is no clinical reason why
you would do this.  Why would you make another human being?" said Ian Wilmut,
one of the scientists who cloned the sheep.  "We think it would be ethically
unacceptable and certainly would not want to be involved in that project."

Carl Feldbaum, president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which
represents about 700 companies and research centers in the United States and
abroad, agreed.

2/24/97