In the seven weeks since the announcement of the successful cloning of a lamb called Dolly from an adult ewe, the scientific community has had time to reflect on what they've read, heard, or watched in the mass media. Among the scientists and bioethicists interviewed by The Scientist, there is unanimous excitement about the research itself. Despite this enthusiasm, observers and participants have a mixed reaction to the initial media coverage of the Dolly story. Some are pleased with news reports, while others say journalists missed certain important scientific points and resorted to sensationalism.
Photo: AP/World Wide Photos A BREED APART: Dolly, the infamous cloned Finn Dorset lamb, sparked a maelstrom of drama and media hype. "Excessive" is the one word that Keith Campbell, a senior research scientist at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, Scotland, where the cloning experiments took place, uses to describe media events surrounding the announcement. Campbell ...
