Roger Burton Land

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(30 April 1940 – 17 April 1988) was a 20th century British animal geneticist. As head of the Edinburgh Research Station he was one of the several scientists responsible for laying the groundwork for the creation of

Dolly the Sheep Dolly (5 July 1996 – 14 February 2003) was a female Finn-Dorset sheep and the first mammal that was cloned from an adult somatic cell. She was cloned by associates of the Roslin Institute in Scotland, using the process of nuclear trans ...

. The Roger Land Building within the University of Edinburgh's

King's Buildings The King's Buildings (colloquially known as just King's or KB) is a campus of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Located in the suburb of Blackford, Edinburgh, Blackford, the site contains most of the schools within the University of Edin ...

complex is named after him.

Life

He was born in Shipley, West Riding of Yorkshire, on 30 April 1940, the son of Betty Newton Burton and her husband Albert Land. He was educated at

Bradford Grammar School Bradford Grammar School (BGS) is a co-educational private day school located in Frizinghall, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Entrance is by examination. For the sixth form admission is based on GCSE results. The school gives means-tested ...

, going on to study science at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

. Deciding to specialise in animal genetics in 1962, he did postgraduate studies at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

gaining a diploma in animal genetics and a doctorate

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

presenting the thesis ''"A genetic study of fertility in the mouse"''. In 1966 he joined the Animal Breeding Research Organisation (ABRO). He rose to be director in 1983. On its reorganisation in 1986, he was appointed the head of the Edinburgh Station of the Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetic Research (IAPGR), which replaced ABRO. In 1985 he was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were William G. Hill,

Noel Farnie Robertson Noel Farnie Robertson (1923–1999) was a Scottish botanist and agriculturist who was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). Biography Early life Robertson was born on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1923, in Dundalk, Ire ...

Douglas Scott Falconer Douglas Scott Falconer (10 March 1913 in Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire – 23 February 2004 in Edinburgh) was a Scottish geneticist known for his work in quantitative genetics. Falconer's book ''Introduction to quantitative genetics'' was written ...

, Alan Robertson, Gerald Wiener and

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. She paved the way for women in science and her work helped lead to human in vitro fertilisation ...

. He died suddenly at his home in

West Linton West Linton () is a village and civil parish in southern Scotland, on the A702. It is in the county of Peeblesshire (also known as Tweeddale) and the Scottish Borders council area. Many of its residents are commuters, owing to the village's pr ...

on 17 April 1988, aged 47.

Family

In 1968 he married Moira Mackay and together they had three children: Jonathon, Moira-Jane, and Anne-Marie.

Publications

*''Genetic Study of Fertility in the Mouse'' (1965)

References

1940 births 1988 deaths People from Shipley, West Yorkshire British geneticists Alumni of the University of Nottingham Animal genetics Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scientists from Yorkshire People educated at Bradford Grammar School {{UK-scientist-stub