Dr Ian Wilmut, the re searcher who, with colleagues at the Roslin Institute in Scotland, successfully cloned Dolly the sheep, will deliver the next Irish Times/RDS Science Today lecture in January.
The leading embryologist, with research partner Dr Keith Campbell, made history in February 1997 when Dolly, the first mammal to have been cloned from an adult cell, was born.
Since then Dolly has given birth to a daughter, Bonnie. The team at Roslin has cloned sheep from other cell types and expects to announce the first cloned pig some time in January.
Dr Wilmut comes to Dublin on January 19th, to deliver the spring Irish Times/Royal Dublin Society Science Today lecture. These lectures are intended to promote a better public understanding of science. They bring leading international researchers to Ireland.
Dr Wilmut will be discussing in particular his new book, co-written by Dr Campbell and Dr Colin Tudge, about their groundbreaking cloning research, The Second Creation: Dolly and The Age of Biological Control. The book details the international research which preceded Dolly's birth, starting with the work of George Mendel in the mid-19th century through Frick and Watson's discovery of the structure of DNA to the announcement of the first cloned mice in the 1980s.
He will explain the steps by which he and the Roslin team managed to clone Dolly. The book also sets out the implications of cloning for the future, its impact on the medical profession, and the moral debate which it has sparked.
Dr Wilmut (53) was born in Warwickshire and studied embryology at Nottingham University. He took a PhD at Cambridge and has been involved in animal research for many years. He headed the team which cloned Dolly, an achievement which ensures a place for him in the world history of science.
There will be no charge for Dr Wilmut's lecture, but as places are limited they must be booked. Contact Ms Carol Power, science development executive at the RDS, telephone number (01) 668 0866.