# Dolly the Sheep is dead
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [February 14, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100 "2003-02-14T18:03:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/1 "2003-02-14T18:03:23Z")
[CNN Report](http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/02/14/cloned.dolly.dies/index.html)
Meat’s back on the menu, boys! - LotR - TT
StG
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### Author:  [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/2 "2003-02-14T18:07:56Z")
What’s the normal life span of a sheep?
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/3 "2003-02-14T18:10:03Z")
So, this proves to an extent that cloning doesn’t mean you start new life at 0. You basically continue the life span the DNA had already covered when you took it out of the “donor” mammal.
Interesting, and quite an obstacle in cloning science, I reckon.
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### Author:  [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/4 "2003-02-14T18:12:17Z")
I think it’s been documented that Dolly was aging way to quickly because the DNA she was cloned with was old.
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### Author:  [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/5 "2003-02-14T18:14:05Z")
I wonder what the life span of that poor ‘cloned’ baby Eve is going to be, given this evidence
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/6 "2003-02-14T18:16:42Z")
I seem to recall (from growing up in the countryside) that a sheep can reach an age of about 12, 14. I’ll go and check.
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/7 "2003-02-14T18:17:38Z")
[8 to 13 years.](http://www.utmem.edu/compmed/Pigs.html)
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/8 "2003-02-14T18:57:44Z")
[old Comedy Central ad]
More mint jelly!
[/old Comedy Central ad]
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### Author:  [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/9 "2003-02-14T19:22:14Z")
6 isn’t that far off of the 8 - 13 year mark. Hell, she was euthanized and could have possibly lasted longer.
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### Author:  [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/10 "2003-02-14T19:30:19Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Coldfire \*
> \*\*I seem to recall (from growing up in the countryside) that a sheep can reach an age of about 12, 14. I’ll go and check. \*\*
“growing up in the country” mmmhmm “seems to recall” :dubious:
You’re awful smart about sheep, aren’t you? mmmhmm?
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/11 "2003-02-14T19:38:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Coldfire \*
> \*\* You basically continue the life span the DNA had already covered when you took it out of the “donor” mammal.
> \*\*
Far be it from me to question a moderator, but I am curious where you found that.
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/12 "2003-02-14T19:47:53Z")
Goodbye, Dolly, well, goodbye, Dolly
It’s a shame they euthanized your woolly self!
You’re lookin’ cold, Dolly, I see mold, Dolly,
Dr. Griffin’s thinkin’ iff’n he’s got mint jelly on the shelf!
I feel that room swayin’, while your gene’s agin’,
Cause your DNA was cloned from some old sheep, so,
Shear her hide, fellas, it’s gettin’ cold outside, fellas,
Dolly’ll never come our way again!
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/13 "2003-02-14T20:01:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eve \*
> Goodbye, Dolly, well, goodbye, Dolly…
Brava! /applause
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### Author:  [@ceyjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ceyjen)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/14 "2003-02-14T20:22:51Z")
How long have scientists known about the possible
accelerated-aging problem with cloning?
Because I remember watching a soap opera once several years ago (when Dolly was maybe a year or two old), the sub-plot of which centered around one of the characters being cloned and passed off as the same person. The clone began to age rapidly and eventually died of old age. I **know** it was only a soap, but I thought of it almost instantly when I heard a couple years ago that Dolly was experiencing some odd problems that only an older sheep would have to handle (arthritis or something like that?)
So, how long _have_ scientists known about or suspected this problem…?
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/15 "2003-02-14T20:30:01Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \*
> \*\*Far be it from me to question a moderator, but I am curious where you found that. \*\*
Well, I might be jumping to conclusions, but the article said:
> [@](#):
>
> It was not clear whether the cloning process led to the arthritis, but research in 1999 suggested that Dolly might be susceptible to premature ageing – a possibility raised after a study of her genetics.
>
> A team from the Edinburgh-based biotech company PPL Therapeutics examined structures in Dolly’s cells called telomeres. The team found that the structures were slightly shorter than would be expected in a sheep of her age which was born normally.
>
> “The real issue is what Dolly died from, and whether it was linked to premature ageing. She was not old by sheep standards to have been put down,” human cloning expert Dr. Patrick Dixon told the UK Press Association.
>
> "The greatest worry many scientists have is that human clones – even if they don’t have monstrous abnormalities in the womb – will need hip replacements in their teenage years and perhaps develop senile dementia by their 20th birthday.
>
> “This is why Dolly’s health is so crucial and why scientists around the world will be waiting for the results of a post-mortem examination on her.”
So, shorter DNA strings, symptoms possibly linked to premature aging. I take that to mean that the DNA you use has a certain “age” you can’t reset to zero, so to speak.
Then again, I’m an economist, so take it with a grain of salt. 🙂
And jarbabyj: I’ve never laid hands on a sheep. Well, I have, but not in a sexual way. 😃
Reminds me of a comic I once saw. Two Kiwi farmers are both, uh, engaging in some fun with a sheep. One is pleasuring his sheep in the missionary position, and the other is going down on his. The former looks at the other with a look of disgust, and says, “You sick bastard!”. 😃
Maybe I’m easily amused, I don’t know.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/16 "2003-02-14T20:34:45Z")
Hmmmm…weird-I thought she died a while back.
Poor Dolly.
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### Author:  [@Bravic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bravic)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/17 "2003-02-14T21:06:48Z")
They should clone her.
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### Author:  [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/18 "2003-02-14T21:21:45Z")
You know what this means, don’t you?
People are going to fight for their kids to be cloned at a very very very very young age, just in case their kids’ kids or whatever want another copy of dear ol’ mom or dad.
What an unholy fucking mess this is all going to be before any semblance of a peaceful resolution is reached.
And in the mean time …
☹
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### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/19 "2003-02-14T21:44:12Z")
**Coldy** , what about the research saying that one can extend the telermarase (spelling’s totally wrong) on the cells and extend the life of the cell and presumably the life of the organism as well?
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolly-the-sheep-is-dead/155100/20 "2003-02-14T22:14:58Z")
Here’s some kinda interesting info on cloned mice:
[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0211\_020211\_tvclonedmice.html](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0211_020211_tvclonedmice.html)
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