Roslin Institute

The Roslin Institute is an animal sciences research institute at Roslin, a village in Midlothian, Scotland, that is sponsored by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. The current director is Professor David Hume FRSE.

The Institute won international fame in 1996, when Sir Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and their colleagues created Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, at the institute. A year later Polly and Molly were cloned, both sheep contained a human gene.

Roslin has made many other contributions to animal sciences, especially in the area of livestock improvement and welfare through applications of Quantitative Genetics. In 2007 a Roslin team developed genetically modified chickens capable of laying eggs containing proteins needed to make cancer-fighting drugs.

In April 2007, The Roslin Institute was joined by the Neuropathogenesis Unit of the Institute of Animal Health, well known for its role in deciphering the biology of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (mad cow disease, scrapie, CJD). In 2008, The Institute was incorporated with the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies within the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine of The University of Edinburgh. There are currently more than 400 staff and students.

The Roslin Institute aims to enhance the lives of animals and humans through world class research in animal biology. The principal objectives are to:

• Enhance animal health and welfare through knowledge of genetic factors affecting resistance to disease.
• Enhance sustainability and productivity of livestock systems and food supply chains through understanding of reproductive and developmental biology.
• Enhance food safety by understanding interactions between disease causing organisms and animals.
• Enhance human health through an understanding of basic mechanisms of health and disease and comparative biology of animal species.
• Identify new and emerging zoonoses and understand how pathogens might cross from animals to humans.
• Enhance quality of life for animals by studying the mechanisms and behaviours associated with optimising their environment and life experiences.

A £60.5M building is currently under construction at the University of Edinburgh's Easter Bush campus, across the road from the new teaching building of Dick Vet.

The Roslin Institute and Dick Vet are part of a formal consortium, the Easter Bush Research Consortium, with the Moredun Research Institute and the Scottish Agriculture College.

External links

• The Roslin Institute
• Bilston Glen Anti-Bypass Protest Site

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