DOLLY THE CLONED SHEEP PREGNANT

March 28, 1999

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) - Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, is expected to give birth to her second lamb in the next few days, scientists said.

Dolly was born in July 1996 at Edinburgh's Roslin Institute after scientists inserted a cell from a ewe's udder into an egg from the same animal after removing the egg's DNA. She was named after singer Dolly Parton.

Dolly's creators say it is important to breed from cloned animals to check for any unexpected changes in their offspring.

Her first lamb, Bonnie, was born last April after she was mated with a Welsh mountain ram. No defects have so far been detected in Bonnie, who is a "perfectly healthy" animal, said Dr. Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Insititute.

Scientists are not planning to give the next lamb a name.