The Lamb

2010, 8 minutes

Pure Science meets morality and cultural repercussions in the continuing debate on cloning/stem cell research.

In 1997, Ian Wilmut and his researchers at the Roslin Institute cloned a sheep and named her Dolly. What many people don’t know is that those involved decided to wait a year to release this breakthrough discovery to the public—the world met Dolly the Sheep, yet never met Dolly the Lamb. “The Lamb” is one dramatised possibility as to why-- a view into the moment when pure science meets morality. Ian Wilmut, Lead Researcher, meets with Joanna Watts, Communications Director of the Roslin Institute and his second-in-command Keith Campbell. Watts brings media consultant Dave McAteer to work with the scientists on their camera presence in order to be ready for anything the hardest reporter could throw at them. Through this mock interview exercise the scientists come to grips with the possible moral dilemma caused by their “nuclear transfer” technique; they must kill a unique life, albeit an embryonic one. The discovery of this media spoiler causes the group to push back the announcement. If the public meet Dolly the Sheep, perhaps they won’t think of Dolly the Lamb-- and by extension Dolly the Embryo that pushed another unnamed potential sheep out of existence. “The Lamb” closes with images from the actual final press conference and Wilmut’s own dismissal of the technique in 2007 when Japanese researchers developed new techniques that no longer destroy an independently viable embryo.

---