Sir Ian Wilmut, OBE FRS FMedSci FRSE was born on 7 July 1944 and is an English embryologist and Chair of the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
14 Facts About Ian Wilmut
2.
Ian Wilmut is best known as the leader of the research group that in 1996 first cloned a mammal from an adult somatic cell, a Finnish Dorset lamb named Dolly.
3.
Ian Wilmut was appointed OBE in 1999 for services to embryo development and knighted in the 2008 New Year Honours.
4.
Ian Wilmut was a student of the former Boys' High School, in Scarborough, where his father taught.
5.
In 1966, Ian Wilmut spent 8 weeks working in the laboratory of Christopher Polge, who is credited with developing the technique of cryopreservation in 1949.
6.
Ian Wilmut was the leader of the research group that in 1996 first cloned a mammal, a lamb named Dolly.
7.
However, in 2008 Ian Wilmut announced that he would abandon the technique of somatic cell nuclear transfer by which Dolly was created in favour of an alternative technique developed by Shinya Yamanaka.
8.
Ian Wilmut believes that this method holds greater potential for the treatment of degenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease and to treat stroke and heart attack patients.
9.
Ian Wilmut led the team that created Dolly, but in 2006 admitted his colleague Keith Campbell deserved "66 per cent" of the invention that made Dolly's birth possible, and that the statement "I did not create Dolly" was accurate.
10.
Ian Wilmut is an Emeritus Professor at the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and in 2008 was knighted in the New Year Honours for services to science.
11.
Ian Wilmut was appointed Order of the British Empire in 1999 and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2002.
12.
Ian Wilmut is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999 and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
13.
In 1997 Ian Wilmut was Time magazine man of the year runner up.
14.
Ian Wilmut was knighted in the 2008 New Year Honours.