Darwin Building, King’s Buildings

 History of Biotechnology  2 Responses »
Aug 162017
 

Darwin BuildingMax Born Crescent, King’s Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3BF

This building was occupied from 1968 by Britain’s first university department of molecular biology, founded in 1965. Two eminent scientists in this department were Sir Kenneth Murray (1930-2013) and his wife Lady Noreen Murray (1935-2011) whose research helped pioneer a vaccine for hepatitis B. This work was sponsored by Biogen, the first biotechnology company in Europe, which was established by Kenneth Murray and colleagues in 1978 with laboratories in Geneva and Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1983, Murray donated his share of the income generated by this research to the University and established the Darwin Trust of Edinburgh, a charity formed to support education and research in the biological sciences. The Darwin Building is now home to the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology and is currently undergoing redevelopment.

James Cossar Ewart’s experimental station, ‘The Bungalow,’ Penicuik

 History of Biotechnology  No Responses »
Jul 242017
 

The Bungalow

Navaar House Hotel, 23 Bog Rd, Penicuik EH26 9BY

‘The Bungalow’ was originally home to James Cossar Ewart (1851–1933), Regius Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh between 1882 and 1927. Ewart commissioned the house in 1895 and also established a ‘Natural History Station’ on the premises, where he kept a menagerie of animals. Ewart’s most famous experiments were cross-breeding zebras and horses, the results of which were published in 1899 as The Penycuik Experiments. Ewart was later instrumental in founding the study of genetics at the University. The Bungalow is now a hotel, as is Ewart’s later home, Craigybield, which is situated further down the road.

The Bungalow c.1900.

The Bungalow c.1900.

 

Zebra-horse hybrid

James Cossar Ewart with his zebra-horse hybrid Romulus, at the Bungalow, Penicuik, c.1899.

 

Mortonhall House

 History of Biotechnology  No Responses »
Jul 242017
 

Mortonhall HouseMortonhall, 38 Mortonhall Gate, Frogston Road, Edinburgh EH16 6TJ

Originally a country mansion built in 1769 and thought to be designed by the Edinburgh architect John Baxter, this house was occupied by scientists at the new Agricultural Research Council (ARC) Unit of Animal Genetics and their families during the late 1940s and early 1950s. This communal living arrangement proved to be a turbulent experience which became immortalised in Edith Simon’s fictional book The Past Masters (1953). The house has now been converted into flats and offices on a site also occupied by a caravan and camping park, garden centre, golf course and crematorium.

Mutagenesis Research Unit, Institute of Animal Genetics

 History of Biotechnology  No Responses »
Jul 242017
 

Crew LaboratoryCrew Laboratory, King’s Buildings, EH9 3JN

The Mutagenesis Research Unit of the Institute of Animal Genetics was established in 1958 with Medical Research Council funding. The director of the Unit, Charlotte Auerbach (1899-1994), had arrived at the Institute in 1933 after fleeing the Nazi regime in Germany. She was introduced to mutagenesis research by future Nobel Laureate Hermann J. Muller, during a research visit to Edinburgh. During the Second World War, Auerbach and the pharmacologist J.M. Robson made the groundbreaking discovery that mustard gas causes mutations to the chromosomes. The former Unit building is now renamed the Crew Laboratory and houses the Institute of Atmospheric and Environmental Science, part of the School of GeoSciences.

Charlotte Auerbach

Charlotte Auerbach, c.1955.

Roslin Institute, Easter Bush

 History of Biotechnology  No Responses »
Jul 242017
 

The Roslin Institute.

Easter Bush, Midlothian, EH25 9RG

After becoming part of the University of Edinburgh’s College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, in 2011 the Roslin Institute moved to new premises on the Easter Bush campus, across the road from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. The new building was designed by global architecture firm HDR, Inc. In 2015 the building received a blue plaque to commemorate Dolly the sheep’s birth.

 

Plaque commemorating Dolly.

Plaque commemorating Dolly.

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Institute of Animal Genetics building

 History of Biotechnology  No Responses »
Jul 242017
 

Institute of Animal Genetics

Crew Building, King’s Buildings, Alexander Crum Brown Road, EH9 3JN

The Institute of Animal Genetics was founded in 1919 as the Animal Breeding Research Department, with F.A.E. Crew (1886-1973) as its first director. In 1930 it moved into this new building on the University of Edinburgh’s King’s Buildings site, designed by the architectural firm Lorimer and Matthew. The Institute developed an international reputation as a centre for genetics expertise, and in 1939 hosted the Seventh International Genetical Congress, a prestigious event which was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. From 1947 the building also housed the ARC Unit of Animal Genetics under C.H. Waddington. The renamed Crew building is now home to the School of GeoSciences.

Relief portrait of Francis Albert Eley Crew, on wall in entrance area of the Crew Building.

Relief portrait of Francis Albert Eley Crew, on wall in entrance area of the Crew Building.

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Site of the original Roslin Institute

 History of Biotechnology  No Responses »
Jul 242017
 

Roslin, Midlothian, EH25 9PSThe original Roslin Institute buildings.

Originally part of the Poultry Research Centre (PRC), from 1987 this site was home to the newly-formed Edinburgh Research Station of the Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Research (IAPGR). In 1993 the Station, now known as the Roslin Institute, became world famous following the birth of Dolly the sheep in 1996. It also became the headquarters of PPL Therapeutics, the biotechnology company established to commercialise the Institute’s scientific research. This site is now under development for housing following the Roslin Institute’s relocation to the Easter Bush campus in 2011.

The original site of the Roslin Institute from the air.

The original site of the Roslin Institute from the air.

Dolly the Sheep, the National Museum of Scotland

 History of Biotechnology  1 Response »
Jul 242017
 

Dolly the Sheep

The National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF

Dolly the Sheep was the first animal cloned from an adult somatic (body) cell. She was born at the Roslin Institute on 5 July 1996. Dolly had three mothers, one provided the genetic information, one provided the egg cell and the third gave birth to her. Dolly died in February 2003. After her death she was stuffed and you can now find her in the science and technology galleries of the National Museum of Scotland.

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Original home of the Institute of Animal Genetics

 History of Biotechnology  No Responses »
Jul 242017
 

Surgeons' Square1 Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP

The Institute of Animal Genetics owed its existence to a scheme initiated in 1911 to encourage research into animal breeding. The University of Edinburgh was already a leading centre for research in this field, with many leading figures such as James Cossar Ewart (1851-1933), professor of Natural History, physiologist Francis Marshall (1878-1949) and Arthur Dukinfield Darbishire (1879-1915), lecturer in Genetics and Animal Breeding. Francis Albert Eley Crew (1886-1973) was chosen as its first director. The Institute was based in one of the buildings in Surgeons’ Square until it moved to Kings Buildings in 1924.

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