A staple of the Radio 4 schedule in which Physics Professor Jim Al-Khalili interviews leading scientists to share some understanding of their work. Today's interviewee was Ian Wilmut, famed as the "father" of the world's most famous sheep, Dolly, who was born twenty years ago. The two talked for an hour and there was time for some questions from the audience at the end, but all that has to be edited down into less than thirty minutes of air time so it will be interesting to hear the finished product.
Wilmut has, unsurprisingly, developed an amusing set of responses to media questioning about Dolly so he proved to be an entertaining speaker. The discussion covered his early career, the events leading up to the successful cloning, and what he has been involved in since. Along the way they covered the practical applications and ethics of cloning science, the difficulties of communicating science in the face of journalistic hyperbole and politicians with a disregard for truth, and the importance of international cooperation in scientific research. Al-Khalili is sharp in ensuring that obscure terms get explained so that a layman can follow the more technical aspects of the discussion. The result is far from dry and entirely accessible.
The programme will be broadcast during the Autumn.
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