Roslin science for World Poetry Day

Poems written by our scientists about their research on viruses, wildlife conservation and dogs

To celebrate World Poetry Day, scientists at the Roslin Institute have written a series of poems about their research work.

Dogs

I love dogs, therefore I care

About their genetics.

To see thousands of breeds

You can’t deny their aesthetics.

But there is this thing

Which keeps on being exceeding

We have to rethink it!

It is called canine inbreeding.

- By Mateja Janes, Research Fellow - Canine Inbreeding

Scimitar-horned oryx

For many an antelope,

The future is not full of hope.

Already extinct in the wild,

Reintroduction is our brainchild.

The project at its inception,

Explores the risk of infection.

Do sheep, camel, cattle and goat,

Have infections that could be of note?

- By Stephanie Brien, Doctoral Researcher in Conservation Genetics

Chickens and ducks

The world’s in lockdown with COVID-19

We’re washing our hands and trying to keep clean

But chickens and ducks – they get viruses too

So that’s why I’m studying avian flu

- By Dr Jacqueline Smith, Career Track Fellow

** The Roslin Institute receives strategic investment funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and it is part of the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. **