WORK is set to start on a landmark genetics research centre shaped to resemble a pair of human chromosomes.
The £58 million project at Easter Bush, near Penicuik, was due to get under way today.
The design of the building sees the office and research laboratories split into two blocks – the different parts of the human chromosome. Coloured panels, repre
senting the DNA "fins", will link the two blocks together.
Funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the building will accommodate 500 scientists from the Roslin Institute and the Scottish Agriculture College.
This will see it bring together some of the best minds in areas such as genetics, developmental biology, immunology and infectious disease, neuroscience and behaviour and animal sciences.
Professor David Hume, director of the Roslin Institute, said: "The new building will provide state-of-the-art facilities in which we can undertake research that will strengthen Scotland's international reputation as a world leader in animal biosciences, and will make a major contribution to Scotland's knowledge economy.
"It will also provide a focal point for the Easter Bush Research Consortium, bringing together scientists from the Roslin Institute, the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, the Scottish Agricultural College and the Moredun Research Institute, with a view to fostering new ideas and streamlining research on animal diseases and its implications for human health."
The new building, which is due for completion in 2011, forms part of Edinburgh University's Easter Bush redevelopment project and will be based opposite a new vet school teaching building and the Hospital for Small Animals.
Councillor Russell Imrie, Midlothian Council cabinet member for strategic services and chair of the planning committee, said: "This is a marvellous development for Penicuik and the wider Midlothian economy, which could truly have worlwide significance in the longer term.
"In the short term, it will also provide a significant boost to the construction industry, while in the medium term will bring hundreds of high-quality jobs to Midlothian.
"Our economic objective is to create up to 10,000 new jobs over the next 12 years.
"The new research building is very much part of our '2020 vision' for enhancing employment and quality-of-life opportunities for the growing Midlothian population."
The design of The Roslin Institute building has also been warmly welcomed by Architecture Design Scotland, an organisation set up to inspire a better quality of building design.
Marc Edmondson, of the building's architects, CUH2A, said: "We are aiming to create a landmark building worthy of the worldwide reputation of the Roslin Institute, and are delighted that it has already received such positive recognition."
