A Sample of the Roslin Institute’s Cloning Research Post-Dolly: 1998 and 2007 TAGS: cloning | dolly the sheep | nuclear transfer | roslin institute As mentioned in a previous post, Dolly, the sheep caused a media sensation in 1997 as the first cloned animal using a nuclear transfer process  and so, I thought it …Continue reading →

Building for a New Audience A post by Sarah Deters, Audience Development Assistant, MIMED Why is the St Cecilia’s Hall Redevelopment project so important to Musical Instrument Museums Edinburgh (MIMEd)?  There are a number of …Continue reading →

Geoffrey Herbert Beale TAGS: Archives | epigenetics | genetics | geoffrey beale | john innes | malaria | medical research council | paramecium | plasmodium | russia Two weeks ago, when we posted about the Lysenko Controversy in Soviet Russia, mention was made of Geoffrey Beale’s interest in and knowledge of the Russian language and scientific history. …Continue reading →

Hermann J Muller (1890-1967), American Geneticist: Radiation and Mutation Studies in the USA, USSR and Edinburgh TAGS: genetics | radiation | USSR Continuing with the Soviet –Edinburgh genetics link, this week’s post focuses on the American geneticist and Nobel laureate, Hermann Joseph Muller (1890-1967) known for his work on the physiological and …Continue reading →

The Lysenko Controversy: Soviet Genetics and Edinburgh TAGS: 1939 | crew | Edinburgh | genetics | geoffrey beale | internation genetics congress | lysenko | mendel | mendelism | propaganda | russia | soviet | stalin | USSR | vernalisation Britain has been fortunate in the freedom it has enjoyed to carry out scientific research; something which has not always been the case with other parts of the world. The …Continue reading →

A letter from Pip TAGS: 20th century history | Birth control | Carlos Paton Blacker | CRC | Edinburgh University Library | Eugenics | Eugenics Society | Godfrey Thomson | Intelligence testing | Professor Sir Godfrey Thomson | Royal Commission on Population | University of Edinburgh | Wellcome Library | Wellcome Trust Some of the most interesting letters in Thomson’s collection were sent to his widow following his death in 1955.  The following, from psychiatrist and secretary of the Eugenics society Carlos …Continue reading →

A few of my favourite [festive!] things TAGS: Christmas | Cyprus | Hector and Andromache | mathematics | Newcastle | Professor Godfrey Thomson | Professor Sir Godfrey Thomson At the start of the festive period, I had the best of intentions to post a festive blog post for every day of advent.  Alas, there isn’t much mention of …Continue reading →

Dollymania – Seven Days that Shook the World TAGS: biotechnology | cloning | dolly the sheep | roslin institute 1997 was quite a significant year for the Roslin Institute with “’Dolly, the sheep, ‘…the first mammal cloned from a cell from an adult animal…generated an amazing amount of interest …Continue reading →

The Story of One TAGS: Ann Lingard | Cafe Scientifique | Cognitive ageing | Fionna Carmichael | Linda Kosciewicz-Fleming | Lothian Birth Cohorts | Michael Davenport | poetry | Professor Ian Deary | World War 2 | World War II In 1932 and 1947, every 11 year old child in Scotland was given an intelligence test*.  This fact is referred to throughout the blog. Its the reason Thomson was famous …Continue reading →

A game of two halves One of the photographs in the Alan Greenwood collection depicts a chicken. This is hardly unusual in itself, seeing as Greenwood was director of the Poultry Research Centre. However, a …Continue reading →