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Which sheep did Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell clone before Dolly?
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Before the birth of Dolly in 1996, Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell successfully cloned several other sheep using nuclear transfer techniques:
- Megan and Morag: In 1995, Wilmut and Campbell generated these two cloned Welsh mountain sheep using embryonic cell nuclear transfer with nine-day-old embryonic cells.1
- Cedric, Cecil, Cyril, and Tuppence: In 1996, the team produced these four Poll Dorset clones using embryonic cell nuclear transfer.2
- Taffy and Tweed: Also in 1996, the team used fetal fibroblasts isolated from sheep fetuses to produce these two clones.2
Additionally, in 1989, Wilmut and Lawrence Smith generated four cloned lambs using embryonic cell nuclear transfer, though the success of those experiments was attributed to chance regarding the cell cycle stage.1