Dolly the sheep, who became world famous for being the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, has died, aged six. Vets decided that Dolly should be euthanized after examinations revealed that she was suffering from a progressive lung disease. Dr Harry Griffin, of the Roslin Institute, the Scottish research centre which created her, said: "Sheep can live to 11 or 12 years of age and lung infections are common in older sheep, particularly those housed inside." Dolly, who was born in 1996, first gave scientists concern in January 2002 when she was diagnosed with a form of arthritis usually found in much older animals. Professor Richard Gardner, chair of Britain's Royal Society working group on stem cell research and therapeutic cloning, said: "We must await the results of the post-mortem on Dolly in order to assess whether her relatively premature death was in any way connected with the fact that she was a clone."

SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.bbc.co.uk on the 14th February 2003