The development of cloning technology was an extension of the Roslin Institute's interest in the application of transgenic technology to farm animals. Transgenesis is the process of introducing an external gene, called a transgene, into a living organism so that the organism will display a new trait, which it may then pass on to its offspring. Transgenesis has been practised on mice since the early 1980s, producing so-called 'super mice' through a very sophisticated genetic modification technology using embryonic stem cells.

Since embryonic stem cells had not been isolated from farm animals, this method of genetic modification was not available. Cloning was therefore a potential alternative way of achieving the same end.