15 Quotes by Ian Wilmut

I think the initial reason why I became interested in farming is that I wanted to be outdoors. I've always enjoyed being outdoors. And so, I looked around and when I was at high school, probably 14 or so, my parents through friends arranged for me to be able to go work on farms on the weekend.

It is not possible to think of a way of screening out effectively the most appropriate embryos, and hence, what we should expect would be late abortions -- either occurring spontaneously or being induced deliberately in the second or third trimester of pregnancy -- in order to prevent the birth of abnormal children.

The pressures for human cloning are powerful; but, although it seems likely that somebody, at some time, will attempt it, we need not assume that it will ever become a common or significant feature of human life.

Any kind of manipulation with human embryos should be prohibited.

I see nothing wrong ethically with the idea of correcting single gene defects through genetic engineering. But I am concerned about any other kind of intervention, for anything else would be an experiment, which would impose our will on future generations and take unreasonable chances with their welfare ... Thus such intervention is beyond the scope of consideration.

It is difficult to imagine a greater imposition than adding genes to future generations that changes the nature of future people.