The petition comes from former employees of the Roslin Institute in Scotland where Dolly debuted in 1996 as the first mammal successfully cloned from adult animal.

The Independent said Friday that Wilmut last year conceded that his Roslin colleague, Keith Campbell, has played a more significant role in the project.

Now other colleagues at Roslin want Wilmut's title taken away.

"The undersigned believe that Professor Ian Wilmut may have conspired with others to obtain advantage and honor to which he is not entitled should the true facts be known," the petition said.

Wilmut told the newspaper that he had been told by Buckingham Palace that the queen wasn't likely to get involved in the fray.