Developing Gene Cloning

Not long after the team of scientists at Roslin Institute created Dolly through the process of nuclear transfer, they took one step further in the technology of cloning, and created a lamb with a human gene in every cell in its body.

The New York Times reported in July, 1997: http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/28/home/0808970725sci-clone.html?scp=24&sq=dolly%20sheep%20cloned&st=cse

This was more than 10 yrs ago, and now, the practice of inserting human genes into animals is much more commonplace. For instance, we learned that several GTC Biotherapeutic Products are produced through the implementation of this practice. A cloned gene for a therapeutic protein is inserted (via a vector) into goat body cells. One of these cells is then transferred to an enucleated ooctye, which ideally can be implanted into a surrogate mother--when the baby goat is born, each of its cells still has a copy of the cloned gene. Using selective breeding allows for the creation of many goats, each of which still has the human gene in its cells. Then the gene codes for a human protein that is produced by the goat and can later be isolated to be used in human therapies. The goats become living bio-reactors for mass production of the desired protein. But the first step in the process involves gene cloning!

But how was this advance viewed back in 1997? Did it stir up excitement or fear?

C. Heard