SCIENTISTS ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY CLONE SHEEP IN LAB.

Byline: Malcolm Ritter Associated Press 

In a feat never before accomplished in mammals, scientists have found a way to turn a laboratory dish full of cells into hundreds of genetically identical sheep.

Scientists in Scotland took cells from an embryo, grew thousands of copies in the lab and then used copies to produce sheep from ewes.

Experts said if the technique can be perfected, it will be a major gain in the ability to make genetic changes in livestock for research and to quickly produce animals that give more or better milk or meat, resist diseases or display other desirable traits.

"It is a great achievement," commented Robert H. Foote, professor emeritus of animal physiology at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

The work was reported in today's issue of the journal Nature by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and colleagues at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, Scotland. The institute does agricultural research on animals, with government and industry funding.

Currently, scientists can produce genetically identical farm animals by such techniques as breaking a single embryo into pieces and implanting each piece in a womb to form a new animal.

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Box (Color) COUNTING SHEEP Scientists have produced genetically identical sheep by cloning cells in a laboratory