Ian Wilmut obituary

Ian Wilmut, the father of cloning, died on September 10, 2023, at the age of 79.

Wilmut is survived by his wife, Sara, three children, and five grandchildren.

Tributes have continued to pour out for the late icon since the news of his passing was announced.

About Ian Wilmut

Ian Wilmut was an embryologist from Britain known for extensively carrying out many laudable research that focused on gametes and embryogenesis, and for cloning “Dolly the Sheep”.

Wilmut was a PhD holder and an Emeritus Professor at the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine, at the University of Edinburgh.

He led the research group that first cloned a mammal (a Finnish Dorset lamb named “Dolly the Sheep”) from an adult somatic cell, in 1996.

Dolly later died of a respiratory disease in 2003.

Wilmut’s effort in embryo development had earned him an OBE honours in 1999. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Wilmut had received many awards including the Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Award, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, and the Shaw Prize for Medicine and Life Sciences.