Dolly The Sheep may have pushed stem cell research forward 20 years

Stem cell research might be 20 years behind where it is today if Dolly the Sheep had never been born, according to the scientist whose team created the world’s first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

Speaking on the eve of Dolly’s 20th anniversary, Professor Ian Wilmut said widespread use of stem cell treatments was still likely to be “decades away”.

Controversially, he added he did not believe there should be a ‘red line’ ban on ethical grounds to modifying inherited DNA in human eggs and sperm.