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.
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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.
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Roslin, Midlothian, EH25 9PS
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 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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1 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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Scotland: A Changing Nation, Level 6, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF
Today, ultrasound scanners are a vital diagnostic tool found in hospitals all over the world. The technology behind them was first developed in wartime to detect submarines underwater. It uses pulses of sound to detect differences in the density of the soft tissues of the body. An image can then be formed from the echos from these pulses. The use of ultrasound in obstetric care was pioneered by Professor Ian Donald at the University of Glasgow in the 1950s. Commercial production started in Glasgow in 1960, but this particular machine was made by Nuclear Enterprises of Edinburgh in 1976.
Entrance to the National Museum of Scotland is free.
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Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Arboretum Place, Edinburgh EH3 5NZ
This cottage, which had been lovingly rebuilt in the current Royal Botanic Garden in Inverleith, stood for 60 years at the old site of the Botanic Gardens near Leith Walk. The Gardens had moved to this location from its previous site near the modern Waverley Station in 1763. This cottage was not only the home of the head gardener, but also contained a classroom upstairs for teaching botany. It was here that John Hope, the University of Edinburgh’s professor of botany and materia medica taught generations of medical students from 1766 until his death in 1784.
Entrance to the Botanic Cottage is free, except when it is being used for an event.
Coloured etching of John Hope by John Kay, 1786.
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Library, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen St, Edinburgh EH2 1JD
The advocates of the ‘science’ of phrenology claimed that the brain was composed of a number of organs, including organs of ‘destructiveness’ or ‘benevolence’ and ‘hope’. They believed that the character of a person could be determined from the shape of their skull, which mirrored the development of these organs. They were therefore very interested in collecting casts of the heads of remarkable people, whether geniuses or criminals. This is just such as cast of the head of the notorious murderer, William Hare, taken after his execution in 1829.
Entry to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery is free.
The phrenological organs, from George Combe, Outlines of Phrenology (1836).
Portrait of William Burke by George Andrew Lutenor; a portrait painter who was also one of the jurors at William Hare’s trial, 1829.
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9 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JQ
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh was established by Royal Charter in 1681. Its 21 founding members included such notable figures as Sir Robert Sibbald, Andrew Balfour, Thomas Burnet, Alexander Stevenson and Archibald Pitcairn. Then as now, it was responsible for the training and certification of physicians. Originally based in Fountain Close on the Cowgate, after a period occupying a variety of other premises the RCPE moved to its current purpose-built premises in Queen Street after its completion in 1846.
No public access without prior arrangement.
Robert Sibbald (1641–1722).
Fountain Close, High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TF
In 1682 the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh decided to establish a Dispensary to provide medical services to the poor in Fountain Close. This was the first ever attempt to provide free medical treatment in the city. Two physicians were to be appointed for a twelve month term to visit the sick poor and provide free advice and treatment. From 1705, treatment was also provided on-site to patients able to come to the Dispensary. When the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary was opened in 1729, the Dispensary was amalgamated with it.
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