DOLLY, the sheep cloned by Scottish scientists, is to star in an exhibition chronicling a century of genetics research in Edinburgh.
The world’s most famous sheep will be on display alongside rare books, archive documents, pictures, sound and film clips from Edinburgh University’s Special Collections.
The exhibition – entitled ‘Towards Dolly’ – celebrates Edinburgh’s contributions to the field of genetic science, from animal breeding research in the early 1900s, to the cutting-edge stem cell techniques employed today.
As the first animal to be cloned from an adult cell, Dolly's birth proved that it is possible to take cells from anywhere in the body and make them behave like a newly fertilised egg.
The discovery paved the way for the field of regenerative medicine and the use of stem cells to investigate fundamental human and animal biology.
The sheep, which died in 2003, was stuffed and mounted and will appear in the exhibition on exclusive loan from National Museums Scotland.
Also on show will be a microscope from the University’s Roslin Institute that was used to create the cloned embryo that led to Dolly’s birth.
Curator Clare Button said: “Dolly is the most famous chapter in Edinburgh’s long genetics history. This exhibition tells the wider story of the many pioneering discoveries which have taken place here, taking our visitors ‘towards Dolly’ and beyond.”
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