Twenty-six years since Dolly: cloning and stem cells

Professor Megan Munsie, Department of  Anatomy and Physiology, speaks to ABC Life Matters about advancements in stem cell research and ethics since Dolly the sheep was cloned.

When UK scientists successfully cloned Dolly the sheep, the potential benefits around human health and eradicating genetic born disease seemed just over the horizon.

However, in 2022, public acceptance and policy creation continue to trail behind, as the ethics and uses of this science polarise our global community.

Professor Megan Munsie, an internationally recognised leader in the stem cell research community, heads a research program at the School of Biomedical Sciences into the ethical, legal and social implications of stem cell research.

As part of our 30th birthday celebrations on Radio National, Prof Munsie joined Michael Mackenzie to discuss how far science and law have come since a 1998 Life Matters interview with British embryologist Sir Ian Wilmut about the ethical questions cloning Dolly the sheep raised - many of which are still relevant today.

Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.

LISTEN: Life Matters turns 30: Cloning Dolly

LISTEN: Twenty-six years since Dolly: cloning, stem cells and community suspicion