One of the researchers responsible for creating Dolly the sheep, the first mammal ever cloned, will visit Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday, Feb. 21 to speak about the potential of adult stem-cell therapies for treating human diseases.
Ian Wilmut, now a professor emeritus at the University of Edinburgh, was a member of the team that cloned Dolly, a Finn-Dorset sheep, in 1996. The news that a sheep had been successfully grown from a single cell taken from another adult sheep made headlines worldwide.
In the years since, Wilmut helped found the Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and conducted research that has helped treat human diseases such as cystic fibrosis and emphysema.
Wilmut has become an outspoken advocate for the use of adult stem cells in treating human diseases. His lecture, “Dolly to Stem Cell Therapy,” will focus on these topics.
The event, hosted by the Kellogg Distinguished Public Lecture Series, will begin with a reception in the Ursa Major Suite of the Bronco Student Center at 6 p.m. Wilmut’s lecture will begin at 7 p.m., followed by a Q&A session and book signing at 8 p.m. Attendance is free, but advance registration is required. To register, visit www.cpp.edu/~kellogglectures/ticket.shtml.
(Photo: Ian Wilmut with Dolly the sheep.)