‘Unsung hero of biology’: UK to honour Dolly the sheep
Dolly the sheep is to be honoured with her very own blue plaque marking her short life in Edinburgh.
Scientists will be gathering on Wednesday for an unveiling ceremony at the Roslin Institute of Edinburgh University, where Dolly was born and lived.
The plaque will read: “Dolly the Sheep, 1996-2003. First mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.” It is not the first time an animal has been honoured – Nipper, the black and white HMV dog, was immortalised with a blue plaque in Piccadilly, central London.
Dolly’s is part of a scheme by the Society of Biology to celebrate 10 “unsung heroes” of the science across the United Kingdom.
Mark Downs, chief executive, told The Times they wanted to honour not just the sheep but the team behind the landmark project to create the first animal cloned from an adult cell.
“So many people were involved,” he added. “It seemed a bit unfair to single out one individual.” Ian Wilmut, who was the lead researcher, will be making a short speech at the unveiling.
Other Society of Biology plaques commemorate scientists including Dorothy Hodgkin, the only female British scientist to be awarded a Nobel prize, and fellow winner Alan Hodgkin, who famously conducted nerve experiments using squid.
Anyone is welcome to attend the free plaque unveilings, which are part of the “Biology: Changing the World” project.
Her birth on 5 July 1996 was initially kept a secret while a formal scientific paper about the process that created her was prepared and the news did not leak until the following February, days before the document was due to be published.
She was named after the American country singer Dolly Parton – because the original cell used to create her came from a mammary gland. the independent.
Source: TOI
