WILMUT, Ian 1944-

PERSONAL:

Born July 7, 1944, in Hampton Lucey, England; son of David (a mathematics teacher) and Eileen Mary (a homemaker) Wilmut; married Vivian Mary Craven, September 9, 1967; children: Helen, Naomi, Dean. Education: Nottingham University, B.Sc., 1967, D.S., 1998; Cambridge University, Ph.D., 1971.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Roslin Institute, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9PS, Scotland; Edinburgh Research and Innovation, University of Edinburgh, 1-7 Roxburgh St., Edinburgh EH8 9TA, Scotland.

CAREER:

University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, Animal Breeding Research Station, senior scientist, 1973-93, Roslin Institute, principal investigator, and joint head of the Department of Gene Expression and Development, 1993—, Centre for Regenerative Medicine, head, 2005—. Consultant and lecturer.

AWARDS, HONORS:

University of Edinburgh fellow, 1993; Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Prize; Sir John Hammond Memorial Prize, Society for the Study of Fertility; research medal, Royal Agricultural Society of England; William Young Award, Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland.

WRITINGS:

(With Keith Campbell and Colin Tudge) The Second Creation: Dolly and the Age of Biological Control, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2000.

(With Roger Highfield) After Dolly: The Uses and Misuses of Human Cloning, W.W. Norton (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to professional journals. Editor of Reproduction Fertility.

SIDELIGHTS:

In February of 1997, Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh announced to the world that they had taken a single mammary cell from an adult ewe and successfully cloned a sheep they named Dolly. Dolly was the world's first cloned mammal. Wilmut's goal was the improvement of livestock, and he was opposed to using the technique to clone human beings. But the possibility of human cloning, and the ethical questions the idea raises, caught the world's attention, not only within the scientific community but in the religious community as well.

Wilmut first became interested in the new science after meeting researcher Chris Porge while attending Cambridge University. Porge was freezing cells as far back as the 1940s. Wilmut was mentored by G. Eric Lemming, a leader in the field of reproductive science, and Wilmut's doctoral dissertation concerned freezing boar semen and embryos. He produced the first calf born from a frozen embryo, a Herford-Friesian cross he named Frostie, and his methods were used by cattle breeders to improve their herds by implanting the eggs of superior cows into others of inferior quality.

While attending a conference in Ireland, Wilmut learned of embryologist Steen M. Willadsen at Granada Genetics in Texas, who was working to take a cell from a developing embryo and clone a sheep. Wilmut was inspired to try the idea himself and devoted many years to experimentation with the help of a very small staff, undaunted by opposition and the burning of his laboratory in 1991 by animal activists. On July 5, 1996, Dolly was born, and she went on to deliver healthy lambs of her own.

Following the birth of Dolly, a flock of sheep were developed by Wilmut's team using a variety of cloning methods. They began to focus on cloning animals to grow organs for human transplant. They also hoped to create genetically altered animals able to produce drugs within their bodies for the treatment of human disease. While animal-rights activists in Scotland had long opposed his work, opposition to Wilmut's experiments began to escalate in the United States as well. Accusations of tampering with creation were levied against him. He sought a change in British law to allow the use of stem cells from unneeded eggs developed through fertilization treatments to attempt to repair damaged human organs and tissue, particularly in cases of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. On February 8, 2005, Wilmut and his team were given a one-year research license from the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority to extract stem cells from cloned human embryos for the purpose of investigating motor neuron disease (MND). Later that year, the University of Edinburgh announced that Wilmut would head their new Centre for Regenerative Medicine.

Wilmut and Keith Campbell, who worked with Wilmut in producing Dolly, wrote The Second Creation: Dolly and the Age of Biological Control with science writer Colin Tudge. They describe their work and the process that led to the world's first cloned mammal, as well as the advances that have come after their initial success. They explain the science of embryology and the history of previous experiments by other researchers. They also reveal that Dolly was named for country singer and songwriter Dolly Parton. Lancet contributor Steven Rose noted that "the reader is never allowed to forget the craft of science, the expertise required to manipulate cells. And the technical team that performs these tasks, so often submerged behind the profile of the great scientist, appear not merely as names but people in their own right. Above all, the central section of the book, describing mitosis, meiosis, and the cell cycle is a quite superb piece of science teaching—better done than in any textbook I have ever come across."

Wilmut next wrote After Dolly: The Uses and Misuses of Human Cloning with science writer Roger Highfield. In addition to following up on his previous book, Wilmut provides personal observations about life as a scientist. He continues to oppose human cloning of "designer" babies. Wilmut is optimistic that with time and increasing familiarity with the science, those who oppose his work will come to see the appropriateness of its application. A Kirkus Reviews contributor described After Dolly as: "The how of cloning, beautifully told by optimists who believe that wise heads and good science will justify the whys."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement, Volume 20, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2000.

Newsmakers 1997, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1997.

Notable Scientists: From 1900 to the Present, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2001.

Science and Its Times, Volume 7: 1950-Present, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2000.

World of Biology, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1999.

World of Genetics, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2001.

World of Scientific Discovery, 2nd edition, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1999.

PERIODICALS

BioScience, September, 2002, Scott Gilbert, review of The Second Creation: Dolly and the Age of Biological Control, p. 851.

Booklist, June 1, 2000, Bryce Christensen, review of The Second Creation, p. 1803; May 15, 2006, Donna Chavez, review of After Dolly: The Uses and Misuses of Human Cloning, p. 7.

British Medical Journal, October 14, 2000, Andrew P. Read, review of The Second Creation, p. 966.

California Bookwatch, August, 2006, review of After Dolly.

Discover, July, 2000, Sarah Richardson, review of The Second Creation, p. 116.

Futurist, September-October, 2006, Patrick Tucker, review of After Dolly.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2006, review of After Dolly, p. 400.

Lancet, February 19, 2000, Steven Rose, review of The Second Creation, p. 661.

Library Journal, June 1, 2000, Gregg Sapp, review of The Second Creation, p. 190; June 15, 2006, Mary Chitty, review of After Dolly, p. 101.

Nature Genetics, April, 2000, Tony Perry and Teru Wakayama, review of The Second Creation, p. 347.

New York Times, February 24, 1997, Youssef M. Ibrahim, "Ian Wilmut: For Scientist, Secrecy Gives Way to Spotlight."

Publishers Weekly, April 17, 2000, review of The Second Creation, p. 59.

Quarterly Review of Biology, June, 2002, Michael Hadjiargyrou, review of The Second Creation, p. 202.

Science News, July 15, 2006, review of After Dolly, p. 47.

Scientific American, September, 2006, review of After Dolly, p. 120.

Time, March 29, 1999, Bernadine P. Healy, "Ian Wilmut: Breaking the Clone Barrier," p. 176.

Time International, January 14, 2002, Aisha Labi, "But She's So Young: Even Ian Wilmut, the Scientist Who Cloned Her, Can't Say If Dolly's Premature Arthritis Is a Legacy of Her Unorthodox Birth" (interview).

ONLINE

Academy of Achievement,http://www.achievement.org/ (May 23, 1998), interview with Wilmut.

Edge,http://www.edge.org/ (November 2, 2006), biography of Wilmut.

Edinburgh Research and Innovation, University of Edinburgh Web site,http://www.research-innovation.ed.ac.uk/ (December 2, 2005), "Ian Wilmut to Head Centre for Regenerative Medicine."

Guardian Online,http://www.guardian.co.uk/ (March 11, 2006), Ian Sample, "Scientists Dispute Credit for Dolly."

Human Cloning Foundation Web site, http://www.humancloning.org/discussion/posts/116.html/ (March 13, 2000), Alma H. Bond, "Scoop!: An Interview with Ian Wilmut—Creator of Dolly."

Salon,http://www.salonmagazine.com/ (February 24, 1997), Andrew Ross, "Dr. Frankenstein, I Presume?" (interview with Wilmut).

Weekly Standard Online,http://www.weeklystandard.com/ (February 16, 2005), Wesley J. Smith, "Ian Wilmut: Human Cloner."*