She is known for some of the biggest hits on the planet from Jolene to I Will Always Love You.
But global superstar Dolly Parton has confessed she’s particularly proud of her rather unlikely contribution to science.
The 78-year-old Grammy winner, who has released nearly 1,000 songs and amassed around £550 million over her 60-year career, has admitted having the world’s first cloned sheep named after her ranks high up on her list of achievements.
She said she was ‘flattered’ scientists at Edinburgh University chose to name Dolly the Sheep as a tribute to her.
Ms Parton said she was flattered that scientists chose to name Dolly the Sheep as a tribute to her
Dolly the Sheep was cloned in 1996 at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh
The ewe was cloned in 1996 at the university’s Roslin Institute by a team led by biologist Keith Campbell and Professor Sir Ian Wilmut.
She was the first mammal born out of replicated donor cells from a mammary gland and started her life as a single cell in a test tube.
Mr Wilmut explained at the time she was called Dolly after the artist, adding: ‘Dolly is derived from a mammary gland cell and we couldn’t think of a more impressive pair of glands than Dolly Parton’s.’
The singer said yesterday (Fri) that she was bowled over when she heard about the sheep being named after her.
Ms Parton told the Guardian’s G2 supplement: ‘I was flattered. You know, when the scientists cloned Dolly the sheep, they used the mammary glands.
Despite the world’s first cloned mammal being named after her, Ms Parton insists: ‘I don’t want be cloned myself’
‘That’s what they call them … glands … the boobs.
‘They said, “Oh, we have this sheep, Dolly…” Everybody always played up to these [her chest], so that’s why we had Dolly the sheep.
‘I was sorry when she died, though I don’t want be cloned myself. I want to get on out of here when I can.
‘We already get a lot of Dolly lookalikes, a lot of Dolly drag queens. I can just send them down to the store instead of me.’
Dolly the sheep died in 2003 age six having had six lambs before her demise.
She was donated to the National Museum of Scotland and has been on display for the past 21 years.
