The Galton Laboratory was a laboratory for research into

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

and then into human

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar worki ...

based at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England. It was originally established in 1904, and became part of UCL's biology department in 1996. The ancestor of the Galton Laboratory was the Eugenics Record Office founded by

Francis Galton Sir Francis Galton, FRS FRAI (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911), was an English Victorian era polymath: a statistician, sociologist, psychologist, anthropologist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto- ...

in 1904. In 1907 the Office was reconstituted as the Galton Eugenics Laboratory as part of UCL and under the direction of

Karl Pearson Karl Pearson (; born Carl Pearson; 27 March 1857 – 27 April 1936) was an English mathematician and biostatistician. He has been credited with establishing the discipline of mathematical statistics. He founded the world's first university st ...

the Professor of Applied Mathematics. Galton financed the Laboratory and on his death left UCL enough money to create a chair in National Eugenics which Pearson filled. The Laboratory published a series of memoirs and in 1925 Pearson created the ''Annals of Eugenics'', which continues as the ''

Annals of Human Genetics The ''Annals of Human Genetics'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering human genetics. It was established in 1925 by Karl Pearson as the ''Annals of Eugenics'', with as subtitle, Darwin's epigram "I have no Faith in anything shor ...

''. The journal has always been edited at the Galton. Pearson was succeeded as Galton Professor by R. A. Fisher in 1934. When Fisher moved to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

in 1944 the laboratory was incorporated in an enlarged Department of Eugenics, Biometry and Genetics headed by J. B. S. Haldane, the Wheldon Professor of Biometry. This reversed a previous split in 1933. The department was renamed again by Harry Harris in 1966, becoming the Department of Human Genetics and Biometry. The post-war Galton Professors were

Lionel Penrose Lionel Sharples Penrose, FRS (11 June 1898 – 12 May 1972) was an English psychiatrist, medical geneticist, paediatrician, mathematician and chess theorist, who carried out pioneering work on the genetics of intellectual disability. Penrose w ...

up to 1965, Harry Harris to 1976 and Bette Robson until 1994. J. B. S. Haldane was succeeded as professor of Biometry by C. A. B. Smith. The Department of Human Genetics and Biometry, including the Galton Laboratory, became part of the Department of Biology in UCL in 1996. MRC Human Biochemical Genetics Unit was established by Harris in 1962. He was Hon. Director until he went to Philadelphia in 1976, and the Unit continued under the direction of David Hopkinson until its closure in October 2000. Sam Berry also held a Professorship in Genetics from 1972. In 1967 the laboratory moved into a dedicated new building Wolfson House along with a further two Medical Research Council units: the Human Biochemical Genetics Unit, headed by Harris, and the MRC Experimental Genetics Unit, headed by

Hans Grüneberg Hans Grüneberg (26 May 1907 – 23 October 1982), whose name was also written as Hans Grueneberg and Hans Gruneberg, was a British geneticist. Grüneberg was born in Wuppertal– Elberfeld in Germany. He obtained an MD from the University o ...

. Subsequently, on Grüneberg's retirement, the space occupied by his unit was reallocated to the newly created

MRC Mammalian Development Unit MRC may refer to Government * Medical Research Council (United Kingdom) * Medical Reserve Corps, a US network of volunteer organizations * Municipalité régionale de comté (regional county municipality), Quebec, Canada * Military Revolutionary ...

, led by

Anne McLaren Dame Anne Laura Dorinthea McLaren, (26 April 1927 – 7 July 2007) was a British scientist who was a leading figure in developmental biology. Her work helped lead to human in vitro fertilisation (IVF),

, and the

MRC Blood Group Unit The MRC Blood Group Unit, originally the Blood Group Research Unit, was a research unit of the British Medical Research Council from 1946 to 1995. Initially established in the Lister Institute, it transferred to the Galton Laboratory (the Genetics ...

, headed by

Ruth Sanger Ruth Ann Sanger (6 June 1918 – 4 June 2001) was an Australian immunogeneticist, haematologist and serologist. She was known for her work on human red cell antigens and for the genetic mapping of the human X chromosome. She was Director of ...

, and subsequently Patricia Tippett.

Galton Professors of Eugenics/Genetics

Originally established as the Galton Chair in National Eugenics, the post was renamed under Penrose to be the Galton Professor of Human Genetics. *

1911–1933 *

Ronald Fisher Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (17 February 1890 – 29 July 1962) was a British polymath who was active as a mathematician, statistician, biologist, geneticist, and academic. For his work in statistics, he has been described as "a genius who ...

1933–1943 *

1945–1965 * Harry Harris 1965–1976 *

Bette Robson Bette may refer to: People and fictional characters * Bette (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Jean-Christophe Bette, French competitive rower * The noble House of Bette: the Marquess of Lede: ** Guillaum de Bette, 1st Marqu ...

1976–1994
Obituary

Nick Wood
(2009–present)

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20040509104147/http://www.gene.ucl.ac.uk/
Archives of the Galton Laboratory, UCL Library Special Collections

Notes

Possibly succeeding Grüneberg. {{coords, 51.523, -0.133, display=title Eugenics in the United Kingdom Eugenics organizations Genetics in the United Kingdom Genetics or genomics research institutions History of genetics Laboratories in the United Kingdom Research institutes established in 1904 Research institutes in London 1904 establishments in England