The world's first cloned mammal, Dolly the Sheep, was named in honor of the singer Dolly Parton, a decision that was met with flattery by the country music star.
The scientists at Scotland's Roslin Institute selected the name Dolly because the sheep was cloned using a cell nucleus from a mammary gland. Professor Ian Wilmut, who led the research team, explained that the choice was a direct reference to Dolly Parton's well-known physique.
"Everybody always played up to these [points to her chest], so that’s why we had Dolly the sheep," Parton recalled in an interview with The Guardian, referencing the scientists' explanation.
Dolly the Sheep was born on July 5, 1996, and was the sole survivor of 277 cloning attempts. The process, known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), involved taking a nucleus from a mammary cell of a Finn Dorset sheep and transferring it into an unfertilized egg cell from a Scottish Blackface Sheep. After an electric shock stimulated cell division, the resulting embryo was implanted into a surrogate mother.
John Bracken, one of the scientists involved in the project, is credited with christening the sheep. Professor Wilmut, who passed away in 2023, noted that Dolly Parton's manager reportedly commented, "There is no such thing as baaaaad publicity."
Parton herself expressed that she was "flattered" by the naming. In 2024, she humorously dismissed the idea of being cloned herself, suggesting she could simply send Dolly look-alikes or drag queens to run errands.
Since Dolly's birth, cloning technology has advanced significantly. Researchers have since cloned various mammals, including calves, cats, deer, dogs, horses, mules, oxen, rabbits, and rats. A rhesus monkey has also been cloned using embryo splitting. Dolly's creation was a landmark achievement, demonstrating that the nucleus of a mature somatic cell could be reprogrammed to an embryonic totipotent state, capable of developing into any cell type within an animal.