When Was the First Animal Cloned?

Dolly the sheep was born on July 5, 1996, at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, becoming the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell. Scientists Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell used a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer, inserting DNA from a mammary gland cell of a 6-year-old Finn Dorset sheep into an enucleated egg cell. Out of 277 attempts, Dolly was the only lamb to survive. Her birth was announced in February 1997 and sparked intense scientific and ethical debate about cloning. Dolly lived for six years and was euthanized in 2003 due to progressive lung disease and severe arthritis.