Ian Wilmut (born 1944) was a quiet unassuming British embryologist who worked to improve the productivity of farm animals. By February 1997, he had shocked the scientific community by successfully cloning the first mammal from the DNA of an adult. By doing so, Wilmut had placed himself at the center of an ethical controversy regarding the issue of cloning.

Ian Wilmut was born in Hampton Lucey, England, near Warwick on July 7, 1944. His father, David Wilmut, was a math teacher. Wilmut described himself as a pretty average student. He chose to study farming at the University of Nottingham because he wanted to work outdoors. There he discovered that he had no aptitude for the business aspect of commercial farming. Instead, he became interested in research.

At Darwin College, Cambridge University, Wilmut met researcher Chris Porge who had discovered how to freeze cells in 1949. Wilmut became fascinated with the research. His father...