Ian Wilmut and his associates were the first to clone a mammal from the fully differentiated cells of an adult animal, and thus, thrust the practical concepts and ethics of cloning into scientific and public debate.

Wilmut was born in Hampton Lucey, Warwick, England. He attended the University of Nottingham, where he became fascinated with embryology after meeting G. Eric Lamming, a world-renowned expert in reproduction. The meeting became a turning point for Wilmut, who set out on a singular quest--to understand the genetic engineering of animals. Wilmut graduated from Nottingham in 1967, with a degree in agricultural science.

Wilmut continued his studies at Darwin College at Cambridge University in England. There he received his doctoral degree in 1973, awarded after he completed his thesis on the techniques for freezing boar semen. Wilmut immediately took a position at the Animal Breeding Research Station, an animal research institute supported by government...