News

By John Jalsevac

Ian WilmutLONDON, ENGLAND, June, 5, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Speaking to a conference of science teachers in Alberta in 1997, Ian Wilmut, world-famous creator of “Dolly” the sheep, strongly warned his listeners about the dangers of genetic manipulation and similar technologies. “To let us [scientists] rip with this present technology… is akin to letting a high school kid loose not just with a sports car, but a jet airplane,” he said.

At the time Wilmut also prophetically urged the teachers to “remember there are people who are already thinking of [cloning humans].’’ With the publication of his new book, After Dolly, however, it has come to light that Wilmut might very well have been thinking about himself when he made those last remarks to the teachers in ‘97.

In After Dolly, which is being serialized today in the Daily Telegraph, Wilmut dramatically alters his former and vocal opinions, arguing instead that human cloning may in fact offer a safe and ethical means for preventing the birth of babies with serious diseases, and that it may actually be immoral not to explore the possible benefits of human cloning.

“The use of genetic and reproductive technologies is not a step backward into darkness but a step forward into the light,” writes Wilmut.

Wilmut has taken this stance despite years of being quoted as being “implacably opposed” to human cloning.

On the heels of his Dolly success, Wilmut was asked by Salon Magazine in 1997: “And does [cloning an animal] mean that cloning humans is possible?” The researcher responded: “It is quite likely that it is possible, yes. But what we’ve said all along…is that we would find it ethically unacceptable to think of doing that.” As recently as 2002 Wilmut published a study warning about the dangers of cloning, saying, “There is abundant evidence that cloning can and does go wrong and no justification for believing that this will not happen with humans.”

In 2001, when the company Advanced Cell Technology announced the creation of a human clone, Wilmut summarily dismissed the actions of the company as nothing more than a money-grubbing/publicity stunt. “Frankly, the fact that the company is announcing this now suggests it needs the publicity for refinancing,” he was quoted as saying at the time.

The publication of the controversial book After Dolly, and the attendant publicity of its publication, comes at a crucial moment in Wilmut’s own career as a researcher.

Earlier this year Wilmut admitted that he was not in fact responsible for a significant amount of the research done in creating “Dolly”. The scientist made the shocking admission at an employment tribunal in Edinburgh, in which he was accused of the racial harassment and bullying of an Asian colleague.

At the time the Paul Ehrlich Foundation, which had awarded Wilmut a highly prestigious prize worth £70000, said that they were considering the unprecendented move of recalling the prize from the scientist.

See previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Dolly Cloner Now Says Others Did Most of the Work, Award May be Withdrawn
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06031508.html

Condemnations of Human Cloning Resound While Lunatics Boast
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/nov/01112702.html

Famous “Dolly” Cloning Scientists Says Every Cloned Animal Suffers Defects
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/apr/02042903.html

Sheep Cloner Warns of Human Manipulation
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1997/oct/97102003.html