| Citation | Dr Wilmut has received international acclaim as the leader of the team that, in 1996 and 1997, announced the birth of the first experimentally cloned lambs, produced by fusing nuclei obtained from somatic cells of embryonic, fetal or adult sheep in arrested growth in culture with enucleated sheep oocytes, followed by transfer to the uteri of recipient ewes. This first successful demonstration of mammalian cloning by nuclear fusion shows that it is possible to reverse commitment and restore totipotency to the nucleus of a somatic cell. It will have far?reaching consequences for the propagation of transgenic animals, modification of specific genes, induction of cellular de?differentiation, and understanding of the genetic basis of ageing. |