Known globally as the birthplace of Dolly the Sheep, the first animal to be cloned from an adult cell, the Roslin Institute is a world leader in the field of animal science research. It is a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) National Institute of Bioscience and part of the University of Edinburgh, incorporated with the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies (R(D)SVS).

The Institute undertakes top-class basic and translational sciences aimed at tackling some of the most pressing issues in animal health and welfare, their implications for human health and for the role of animals in the food chain.

Its mission is to gain a fundamental understanding of genetic, cellular, organ and systems bioscience underpinning common mechanisms of animal development and pathology, driving this into the prevention and treatment of important veterinary diseases and developing sustainable farm animal production systems.

The Roslin Institute has internationally recognised programmes on molecular and quantitative genetics, genomics, early development, reproduction, animal behaviour and welfare, neuropathogenesis in animal transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and has pioneered methods for the genetic modification of farm animals.