Dolly institute joins vet school

The institute famed for creating Dolly the sheep is to share expertise with a university vet school in a new multimillion pound partnership.

The Roslin Institute is to join forces with Edinburgh University’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.

It will almost double in size, while close to £100m of investment will fund a new building and more research.

Academics said the partnership would help build Scotland’s reputation as a leader in animal science research.

Researchers at the Roslin Institute created Dolly the first mammal ever to be cloned in 1996.

"Both organisations are renowned internationally for their research and such a union will only serve to enhance and build on that", Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea, Edinburgh University.

They have also been involved in preventing and treating many different animal diseases caused by prions (such as BSE and scrapie), viruses and bacteria.

The institute work has many implications for human health, including investigating food safety issues, and understanding the genetic mechanisms of health and disease in animals, which can in turn enhance human medicine.

As part of its expansion, the institute will move to a £58.5m building next to the new vet school development at Easter Bush, Midlothian, which is planned for completion in 2010.

It will also benefit from £40m of research funding from the Biological Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council over the next five years.

Internationally renowned

The new institute will come under the auspice’s of Edinburgh University’s College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.

Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea, principal and vice chancellor of Edinburgh University, said: "The coming together of the Roslin Institute and the University of Edinburgh is a great step forward.

"Both organisations are renowned internationally for their research and such a union will only serve to enhance and build on that."

Professor David Hume, director of The Roslin Institute, said: "It will further cement the position of Scotland as the world’s leading centre of animal sciences research."