Professor Sir Ian Wilmut was a British embryologist who led the Roslin Institute team at the University of Edinburgh that cloned Dolly the sheep in 1996.
- Died: September 10, 2023 (Who else died on September 10?)
- Details of death: Died of complications of Parkinson’s disease at the age of 79.
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Ian Wilmut’s legacy
Born in Warwickshire, England, Ian Wilmut studied agriculture at the University of Nottingham, inspired by working on a farm in his youth. Studying under cryopreservation expert Christopher Polge further inspired Wilmut to also pursue a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Cambridge while he was still a postgraduate student at Darwin College.
Wilmut joined the Roslin Institute after his graduation, where he researched gametes and embryogenesis. In 1996, he led a team that shook up the scientific world when they successfully cloned a sheep, the first ever cloned mammal. That sheep, Dolly, became an icon; she lived until 2003 and had six lambs. Wilmut often said that his colleague, Keith Campbell, deserved more credit for that breakthrough than himself. The pair and their team’s work are still being studied today.
After Dolly, Wilmut continued to pursue the science of cloning as it evolved. He attained several honors including membership in the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and a Fellow of the Royal Society, Academy of Medical Sciences, and Royal Society of Edinburgh. For his efforts, he received the Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Award and the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, both in 1998. In 2008, he received a knighthood in recognition of his success. He retired in 2012 and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2018.
Tributes to Ian Wilmut
Full obituary: The Herald
