2023-09-12 10:37:45
His greatest genetic feat? Dolly the sheep, first cloned mammal. It is for having given birth to the most famous sheep that the British scientist Ian Wilmut, who died on Sunday at the age of 79, will be remembered forever together with his team. A scientific achievement that shocked the world of research: at the time, in fact, over 25 years ago, it was thought that cloning was impossible. Wilmut, who led that pioneering project, passed away after a long life with Parkinson’s disease. His passing was announced by the Roslin Institute, a research center near Edinburgh, where Wilmut had worked for decades.
The scientist, born near Stratford-upon-Avon, England, announced Dolly’s birth with his team in February 1997. The most famous sheep in history came into the world from a surrogate mother at the Roslin Institute on July 5, 1996, and it had been shrouded in secrecy for months. She died in February 2003 at the age of 6, from a lung infection. And it has been on display at the National Museum of Scotland ever since. Her name was chosen in honor of singer Dolly Parton. “She was a very friendly animal, she was part of a great scientific discovery.” These are the words with which Wilmut remembered her upon her death, according to what the ‘New York Times’ recalls.
After a post-doc at Cambridge University, Wilmut continued his work as an embryologist in Scotland, carrying out research to genetically modify and clone sheep in an attempt to create protein-containing milk that could be used to treat human diseases and to produce stem cells for use. in regenerative medicine. In 2005 he moved to the University of Edinburgh, from which he retired in 2012.
In 2018 he himself announced that he was suffering from Parkinson’s, explaining that he would participate in a research program to test new types of treatments aimed at slowing down the disease. Wilmut leaves behind his wife Sara, 3 children from his first marriage, Naomi, Helen and Dean, and 5 grandchildren.
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