UK Scientist Who Created Dolly the Sheep Clone Dies at 79

FILE - Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut is seen in the Pauls Church in Frankfurt, central Germany, Monday, March 14, 2005. Ian Wilmut, the cloning pioneer whose research was critical to the creation of Dolly the Sheep, has died, the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh said Monday. He was 79. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
FILE - Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut is seen in the Pauls Church in Frankfurt, central Germany, Monday, March 14, 2005. Ian Wilmut, the cloning pioneer whose research was critical to the creation of Dolly the Sheep, has died, the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh said Monday. He was 79. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
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UK Scientist Who Created Dolly the Sheep Clone Dies at 79

FILE - Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut is seen in the Pauls Church in Frankfurt, central Germany, Monday, March 14, 2005. Ian Wilmut, the cloning pioneer whose research was critical to the creation of Dolly the Sheep, has died, the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh said Monday. He was 79. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
FILE - Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut is seen in the Pauls Church in Frankfurt, central Germany, Monday, March 14, 2005. Ian Wilmut, the cloning pioneer whose research was critical to the creation of Dolly the Sheep, has died, the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh said Monday. He was 79. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)

British scientist Ian Wilmut, whose research was central to the creation of the cloned animal, Dolly the Sheep, has died at the age of 79, the University of Edinburgh said on Monday.
His death on Sunday years after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, was announced by the University of Edinburgh, where he worked, Reuters said.
Wilmut, along with Keith Campbell from the animal sciences research institute in Scotland, generated news headlines and heated ethical debates in 1996 when they created Dolly, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.
"He led efforts to develop cloning, or nuclear transfer, techniques that could be used to make genetically modified sheep. It was these efforts which led to the births of Megan and Morag in 1995 and Dolly in 1996," the university said in a statement.
Dolly, named after country singer Dolly Parton, was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, using a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).
This involved taking a sheep egg, removing its DNA and replacing it with DNA from a frozen udder cell of a sheep that died years before. The egg was then zapped with electricity to make it grow like a fertilized embryo. No sperm were involved.
Dolly’s creation triggered fears of human reproductive cloning, or producing genetic copies of living or dead people, but mainstream scientists have ruled this out as far too dangerous.
Wilmut, who was born near Stratford-upon-Avon, attended the University of Nottingham, initially to study agriculture, before switching to animal science.
He moved to the University of Edinburgh in 2005, received a knighthood in 2008 and retired from the university in 2012.



Maldives President Holds Record 15-hour Press Conference

This handout photograph taken and released by the Maldives President Office on May 3, 2025 shows Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu speaking during a marathon press conference in Male. (Photo by Maldives President Office / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Maldives President Office on May 3, 2025 shows Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu speaking during a marathon press conference in Male. (Photo by Maldives President Office / AFP)
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Maldives President Holds Record 15-hour Press Conference

This handout photograph taken and released by the Maldives President Office on May 3, 2025 shows Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu speaking during a marathon press conference in Male. (Photo by Maldives President Office / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Maldives President Office on May 3, 2025 shows Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu speaking during a marathon press conference in Male. (Photo by Maldives President Office / AFP)

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu addressed a press conference for nearly 15 hours, his office said on Sunday, claiming it broke a previous record held by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
Muizzu, 46, began the marathon press conference at 10:00 am (0500 GMT) on Saturday, and it continued for 14 hours and 54 minutes with brief pauses for prayers, his office said in a statement.
"The conference extended past midnight -- a new world record by a president -- with President Muizzu continuously responding to questions from journalists," the statement said.
In October 2019, Ukraine's National Records Agency claimed that Zelensky's 14-hour press conference had broken an earlier record of over seven hours held by Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko, AFP said.
The government of the Indian Ocean archipelago said Muizzu's extended session was also intended to coincide with World Press Freedom Day on Saturday.
"He acknowledged the crucial role of the press in society and emphasized the importance of factual, balanced, and impartial reporting," the statement added.
During the lengthy session, Muizzu also responded to questions submitted by members of the public via journalists.
The statement said Muizzu, who came to power in 2023, was also marking his island nation's rise by two places to 104th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
During Saturday's session, he answered a wide range of questions, the statement said.
Around two dozen reporters attended and were served food.
A predecessor of Muizzu set another world record by holding the first-ever underwater cabinet meeting in 2009, to highlight the threat of rising sea levels that could swamp the low-lying nation.
Former president Mohamed Nasheed plunged into the Indian Ocean followed by his ministers, all in scuba gear, for a nationally televised meeting.
The Maldives is on the frontline of the battle against global warming, which could raise sea levels and swamp the nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered across the equator.