UT’s Famous Calf Found Dead

KNOXVILLE, TN (June 4, 2001) – Millie has died.
The University of Tennessee’s famous Jersey clone was found dead in a pasture on the UT Knoxville Experiment Station in the early morning hours on June 4.

It’s a mystery why she died.

Millennium, or Millie for short, was the United States' first Jersey calf cloned from an adult somatic cell. She was born on the UT Knoxville Experiment Station on August 23, 2000.

Drs. Philip Bochsler and Malcom McCracken, UT veterinary pathologists, performed the necropsy. Except for slight variation in the size of a kidney, they said Millie's anatomy showed no visible signs of abnormalities. “Other than the fact that we knew she was a clone, she was just like any other young cow,” said McCracken. “At this point we cannot conclude why she died.”

Millie was found by a UT employee as he performed his regular check of the station. The time was just after midnight. Officials immediately began to check for possible causes of death, including poisonous weeds and even lightning. No other animals on the station appear to have been affected.

Dr. Lannett Edwards, who heads the team of animal scientists responsible for the UT Cloning Project, was shaken by the incident. “It was so totally unexpected,” she said. “It’s frustrating because we have found nothing that would account for why she died.”

Millie has been checked by UT veterinarians on a regular schedule, in fact, more often than most heifers are examined. Her most recent examination was April 30. She has never shown any abnormalities in terms of her health or behavior, said Dr. John Hodges, superintendent of the station.

Millie was the third bovine clone in the U.S. originating from an adult somatic cell. She was produced using proliferating cells as opposed to the method that was used to produce Dolly the sheep.

“More tests will be needed before we can say what happened to Millie,” said Edwards. “We had hoped to measure her performance in life, but even in death Millie can help us learn more about the science of cloning.”
Toxicology samples have been sent for analysis, but it may be a week or more before the results are available.
Millie and a heifer named "Buddy," who was Millie's constant companion, were pastured at the station on May 2.

Buddy is doing fine. She and the whole university community will miss the famous heifer, who had won friends and admirers at public events in Nashville and elsewhere in the state.

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Contact: Patricia Clark McDaniels
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
Marketing and Communications Services
865-974-7141

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