What was "Dolly" the sheep a product of?

"Dolly" the sheep was a product of cloning, specifically a technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). In this process, scientists took a somatic cell from an adult sheep and transferred its nucleus into an egg cell from which the nucleus had been removed. This created an embryo that developed into "Dolly." Cloning in this context refers to the ability to create a genetically identical organism from the DNA of an adult cell. Dolly's birth in 1996 was significant because she was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell, proving that it was possible to replicate the DNA of an adult organism, which raised important questions about genetics and developmental biology.

The other options represent different reproductive technologies. Gene editing involves making specific changes to the DNA sequence of an organism, but it does not involve cloning or creating a new organism entirely from an adult cell. Crossbreeding refers to the mating of two different breeds or species to produce offspring, which is a time-honored practice in agriculture but is not related to cloning. Artificial insemination is a breeding technique where sperm is introduced into a female’s reproductive tract without natural mating, also unrelated to the concept of creating a cloned organism like Dolly.