Original story

Compumedia 11.2.2012

Dolly-Friesian donates 1000th litre of blood

The world’s most productive cow was crowned with a garland of flowers yesterday by the Honorary Consul of Edinburgh, Mortimer Minstrel. The famed Dolly-Friesian’s owners and breeders Dolly Inc. also received an EUR 500,000 cashcard for their work.

Strawberry Stirling III, now probably the world’s most famous bovine, has donated approximately 200 litres of blood each year over a five-year period. Strawberry’s blood is Type O, and is therefore suitable for most blood transfusions and plasma products. The EU Health Commission has estimated that the Dolly-Friesian’s blood has saved up to 500 lives.

The Scottish firm Dolly Inc. began gene manipulation experiments in the late 1990s, when the company cloned the first mammal, a sheep named Dolly. The venture aroused considerable public alarm at the time, and loud protests. In subsequent research the company moved into gene manipulation experiments on cows and pigs, with the result that it was possible to develop for cattle and pigs a blood-type closely approximating to human blood.

Following the perfection of the method and pilot trials, Dolly Inc. has succeeded in creating a herd of 18 blood-donor cows in two nine Dolly-Friesian clone units, and four donor pigs. The pigs’ blood can however only be used for certain medical conditions, as for some reason the clotting factors of the porcine blood have proved to be stronger than in human blood.

The operations are expanding internationally, as Dolly Inc. have licensed their patented gene to similar concerns in more than 30 countries worldwide.

At present Dolly Inc. are working on plans to develop a totally artificial blood that will match with human types. Certain laboratory cultures have already shown great promise, said a company spokesman yesterday. He was nevertheless reluctant to go into details at this stage on the kind of gene technology being used in the artificial blood research. The spokesman pointed out that a patent would be applied for immediately on the successful completion of gene simulation tests in the laboratory, and after any animal trials that may be required.

The heroine of the hour, Strawberry, thoroughly enjoyed all the media attention before tucking in to a lunch of her normal feed of gene-manipulated soya, decorated with some delicious-looking giant clover leaves that had been specially developed for the occasion.

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