Cloning pioneer Ian Wilmut will present UH Manoa Distinguished Lecture

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Donna Bebber, (808) 956-3712
John A. Burns School of Medicine
Jim Manke, (808) 956-6099
UH Manoa Chancellor's Office
Posted: Mar 9, 2004

The UH Manoa Distinguished Lecture Series welcomes world-renowned reproductive biologist Ian Wilmut for a seminar and public presentation next week.

Wilmut is professor and head of the Department of Gene Expression and Development at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, Scotland. He was leader of the team that produced Dolly the sheep in 1996, the first animal to be cloned from an adult cell.

The public lecture — entitled "Cloning in Biology and Medicine" — has been scheduled for Tuesday, March 16, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the UH Manoa Campus Center Ballroom. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Since Dolly‘s birth, Wilmut has become an internationally-known figure and expert on cloning techniques, and his laboratory continues to play an important role in the development of methods for the cloning and genetic modification of animals. He was named TIME Magazine‘s Man of the Year in 1997

Wilmut‘s own research centers on the cloning of human embryos to provide stem cells for treatment of degenerative disorders such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease. He has been a frequent advocate of the medical benefits to be derived from this new technology, giving many public lectures on the subject and participating in numerous panel discussions on the potential uses and misuses of cloning.

Dr. Yanagimachi, who distinguished himself and the University of Hawaiʻi with groundbreaking cloning research on mice, is Wilmut‘s colleague, friend and host for the lecture and a seminar later in the week. The appearances here are co-sponsored by the John A. Burns School of Medicine and Yanagimachi‘s Institute for Biogenesis Research.

The UH Manoa Distinguished Lecture Series provides a forum for excellence in the arts, sciences, and humanities. Its speakers exemplify the highest achievement among disciplines that are represented on the faculty of the University of Hawaiʻi. and aims to bring the university together with the community that it serves.

For more information, visit: http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/wilmut.html