Where are we ten years after Dolly?

[Jay-qu]

This Wednesday marks ten years since a lamb named Dolly, born in Scotland, made international headlines as the globe's first cloned mammal.

 

She also triggered a storm of dreams, dread and ethical polemic that hasn't abated since.

 

A river of money and hope, directed into the quest for cures for cancer, heart degeneration, Alzheimer's and other crippling disease, has also flowed from the event.

 

But there has been anguished debate, bitter opposition and the crafting of laws and guidelines to restrict or shape cloning research.

 

In Australia, a legislative review by former federal court judge John Lockhart last year recommended lawmakers lift the current ban on therapeutic cloning.

 

However, a number of government ministers oppose the recommendation and Prime Minister John Howard has promised a party room debate in August before a decision is made.

 

Questions have also been raised about what, exactly, scientists have achieved with the creation of Dolly.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1677287.htm