Background
Wilmut was born on July 7, 1944 in Hampton Lucey, England, the son of Jack and Eileen Mary (Dalgleish) Wilmut.
Nottingham University
Cambridge University
Professor Wilmut with "Dolly," the world's first cloned sheep.
Wilmut was born on July 7, 1944 in Hampton Lucey, England, the son of Jack and Eileen Mary (Dalgleish) Wilmut.
Wilmut was a student of the former Boys' High School, in Scarborough, where his father taught. He also received Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Science, Nottingham University, England, 1967, Doctor of Science, Nottingham University, England, 1998, and Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Genetic Engineering, Cambridge University, England, 1971.
Wilmut's early desire was to embark on a naval career, but he was unable to do so due to his colour blindness. In 1966 he spent 8 weeks working in the laboratory of Christopher Polge, who is credited with developing the technique of cryopreservation in 1949. The following year, Wilmut joined Polge's laboratory to undertake a research Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge (Darwin College), from which he graduated in 1971. Wilmut has since been involved in research focusing on gametes and embryogenesis including working at the Roslin Institute.
Wilmut was the leader of the research group that in 1996 first cloned a mammal, a lamb named Dolly. Dolly died of a respiratory disease in 2003. However, in 2008 Wilmut announced that he is to abandon the technique of somatic cell nuclear transfer by which Dolly was created in favour of an alternative technique developed by Shinya Yamanaka. This method has been used in mice to derive pluripotent stem cells from differentiated adult skin cells, thus circumventing the need to generate embryonic stem cells.
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. This supervisory role is consistent with the post of principal investigator held by Wilmut at the time of Dolly's creation.
Wilmut is an Emeritus Professor at the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and in 2008 was knighted in the New Year Honours for services to science. In 2006 his book After Dolly: The Uses and Misuses of Human Cloning was published, co-authored with Roger Highfield.
Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999); Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; Fellow of the Royal Society (2002); EMBO Member (2003)
Wilmut married Vivienne Mary Craven on September 9, 1967. The couple had 3 children.