Dolly set for museum display

Dolly's death was announced on Friday

Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, will be put on display after a post-mortem examination explains what led to her declining health.

Scientists at the Roslin Institute in Midlothian, where Dolly was kept, said she would eventually be put on public display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The six-year-old sheep died on Friday after a decision was taken to "euthanase" her on the grounds that a veterinary examination showed she had a progressive lung disease.

Dolly's birth on 5 July 1996 was a scientific landmark, but also provoked an ethical debate on the morality of cloning and its applications.

Professor Ian Wilmut: "It's a very slow, progressive illness"

Professor Ian Wilmut, who led the Roslin team which created Dolly, said the early indications were that she had simply contracted a progressive lung disease from other animals in a shared pen.

"There is always a greater risk if you have animals inside that infections will spread, so we had been concerned about this," he said.

"It's a very slow, progressive illness but we won't know the details until a post-mortem examination at the local vet school has been completed with any tests they want to do.

"Obviously we will publicise the results of any significant findings from that post-mortem."

Professor Wilmut said that once appropriate tests had been carried out Dolly would be put on display.

"Once the (post-mortem) examination has been made, the opportunity will be given to the Scottish museum to preserve her.

"There is already one of our cloned animals on display there and in a few months time Dolly will join her."