Margaret M. Perry
Margaret M. Perry (1930-2009) was an English molecular geneticist and embryology researcher at the University of Edinburgh whose research produced the first warm-blooded animal developed completely in vitro.[1]
Early life[edit]
Margaret Mary Perry was born in Stockton-On-Tees and educated at St Joseph's Catholic College in Bradford, where a headmistress had established a science laboratory. Perry's father was a civil engineer and her mother gained her degree from the University of Manchester in 1923.[1]
Career in Edinburgh[edit]
Perry graduated with a BSc in Pure Science (Genetics) from the University of Edinburgh in 1952.[2] She went on to work as a research assistant at the University's Institute of Animal Genetics and published research on the embryology of amphibians with the Institute's director C.H. Waddington. In 1975-76 she joined the Agricultural Research Council's Poultry Research Centre in Edinburgh, which later became part of the Roslin Institute.[3]
In 1988 Perry inserted foreign genetic material into single cell chicken embryos and cultured them to hatching "to produce the chick without its own egg shell", thus creating the first warm-blooded animal developed completely in vitro.[1][4][5] In 1993 Perry and Helen Sang collaborated to create the world's first genetically engineered cockerel by gene injection.[6][7]
Perry spoke at a number of international conferences, including in Poland and Japan. She also worked in France on electron microscope techniques.[1]
Personal life[edit]
After her retirement she visited Nepal, Australia, Egypt and the Galápagos Islands and walked frequently in the Highlands and Islands.[1]
Margaret Perry was a devout Catholic and regularly provided religious services to patients at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital and Astley Ainslie Hospital. She was a member of the St Vincent de Paul Society.[1]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f Perry, Carmel (2009-04-12). "Obituary: Margaret Perry". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
- ^ Edinburgh University Calendar 1952-1953 (Edinburgh: James Thin, 1952), p.706.
- ^ Agricultural Research Council, Poultry Research Centre Report for the Year Ended 31 March 1976 (Edinburgh, 1976)
- ^ New Scientist. Reed Business Information. 1988-02-04.
- ^ Farmers' Journal. Associated Journals Limited. 1988.
- ^ "Chicken eggs could be source of drugs: First genetically engineered". The Independent. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
- ^ Perry, Margaret M.; Sang, Helen M. (1993-05-01). "Transgenesis in chickens". Transgenic Research. 2 (3): 125–133. doi:10.1007/bf01972605. ISSN 0962-8819. PMID 8353531. S2CID 1174669.
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