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Iran announces that they have cloned their first sheep thereby shocking the world's preconceived notions that Iran is a fundamentalist and 3rd world nation. Today they have shown that they are as technologically and politically as savvy as the rest of the Industrial countries. Iran wants to become a regional center for medical, aerospace and nuclear technology by 2025 and they are well on their way to accomplishing this.

A lamb that died a few minutes after birth was used in the experiment. Embryos were implanted into 5 sheep and 1 appeared to be healthy. When one of the lambs gave birth Iran's medical notoriety rose indicating to the world that they are advanced. The world's first cloned sheep was Dolly in 1996.

"We learned a lot about cloning during the experiment. It made us more hopeful about further cases," said Dr. Morteza Hosseini (Karimi, 2006). Dr. Hosseini is a member of a team specializing in cloning at Isfahan Royal Institute in Iran. It is expected that the wealth of information generated by this experiment will make the next cloning session even more successful.

Islamic scholars are debated on the issue of cloning. Sunni Scholars out of Saudi Arabia are opposed to the idea while Iranian ****te scholars indicate that cloning is acceptable as long as it isn't done with humans. Cloning is the production of two or more beings that are complete genetic copies of one another.

The medical benefits of cloning are great. It is expected that through cloning medicinal material may be produced for preserving and saving lives. Few are truly aware of the full extent of potential hazards and benefits of cloning.

About the Author

Murad Ali is the owner and editor of the Muslim Times a http://www.muradenterprises.org