Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, who led the research group that produced Dolly the Sheep, has died at age 79.
Wilmut was head of a group of scientists at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute who produced the first cloned mammal from an adult cell in 1996.
In a statement confirming the death of Wilmut, Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, said:
“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Professor Sir Ian Wilmut. He was a titan of the scientific world, leading the Roslin Institute team who cloned Dolly the sheep – the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell – which transformed scientific thinking at the time.
“This breakthrough continues to fuel many of the advances that have been made in the field of regenerative medicine that we see today.
“Our thoughts are with Ian’s family at this time.”
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Wilmut was part of a team involved in a series of experiments during his time at the Roslin Institute that sought to develop a better method for producing genetically modified livestock.
The aim was to investigate how cells changed during development and understand if a specialised cell could be used to make a new animal.
The work carried out by Wilmut and his colleagues remains crucial in stem cell research and genetic diseases.
In 2006, Wilmut was made the first director of the Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
Wilmut was also given a knighthood in 2008 for his services to science.
“Jim Al-Khalili and Ian Wilmut 05” by byronv2 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.