First Cloned Sheep Dolly

First Cloned Sheep, Dolly, Creates Scientific Stir

In 1997 the Scientific community was changed forever as Britain embryologist, Ian Wilmut along with a team of researchers announced he had cloned the first sheep Dolly. Wilmut took the DNA of a sheep and created a cloned lamb, Dolly. This discovery shocked many on a broad range of levels, varying from scientific shock to ethical uneasiness. Two articles from The New York Times report on the discovery of Dolly with two varied outlooks. “Scientist Reports First Cloning Ever of Adult Mammal” explains the cloning process in great detail and can be intriguing to a scientific mind or quite dry as I experienced. “With Cloning of A Sheep, the Ethical Ground Shifts” debates whether cloning may become potentially beneficial or harmful.

In “Scientist Reports First Cloning Ever of Adult Mammal” the process of cloning Dolly starting with a mammary cell is explained intricately. This article, published February 23, 1997, states, “The method could work for any animal and that he hoped to use it next to clone cattle.” This article is all-encompassing as it provides scientific knowledge of how Dolly was cloned and implications for the future of cloning. This article also provides many quotes from Doctor Wilmut and counters his points with quotes from other medical researchers. This article is well written, although it may be hard to understand for some readers who get bored by facts. The article sticks to the point and doesn’t shy away from the facts for the most part, besides a few quotes.

In the article “With Cloning of A Sheep, the Ethical Ground Shifts” although this is article is somewhat contemporary, I feel that it may have some bias as it starts out with, “When a scientist whose goal is to turn animals into drug factories…” Whether that is true or not, I’m not sure, but Dr. Wilmut never said that was his goal in the article and thus I think it may be a presumption. The article than goes into greater depth in the scientific way Dolly was cloned. It also offers points and counterpoints of why Dolly and future cloning may be beneficial or harmful. This article is also well written and even includes implications for cloning such as genetic engineering. This article allows the reader to understand the issue at hand and make a good decision for him/herself about cloning.

Although I believe both articles to be well written and not have a lot of fluff, I personally like the article, “With Cloning of A Sheep, the Ethical Ground Shifts.” I prefer this article, because it made me think more of what my viewpoint on cloning would be if there ever were decisions to be made about it. This article also kept my attention longer because it was more about ethics than just the scientific way of how cloning came about. However, I found both of these articles to be in the AP style and all the quotes they had for the most part were applicable and added more depth and analysis to the issue at hand.

Sources:

“With Cloning of A Sheep, The Ethical Ground Shifts” : http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/24/us/with-cloning-of-a-sheep-the-ethical-ground-shifts.html?sec=&spon=&scp=8&sq=scientists%20clone%20sheep&st=cse&pagewanted=1

“Scientist Reports First Cloning Ever of Adult Mammal” : http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/23/us/scientist-reports-first-cloning-ever-of-adult-mammal.html?sec=health&spon=&scp=2&sq=Scientist%20Reports%20First%20Cloning%20Ever%20of%20adult%20mammal&st=cse&pagewanted=1