A history of innovation

Bringing innovation to the world

Scotland has a long and remarkable history of medical and scientific discovery stretching back more than 200 years when John Hunter laid the foundation of comparative anatomy and pioneered the art of tissue grafting and dissection. Our record of innovation continues unabated and has included:

  • the introduction of anesthesia by James Young Simpson in 1850;
  • the first bone graft performed by Sir William McEwan in 1880;
  • the discovery of Penicillin by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1929;
  • the development of Interferon by Alick Isaacs in 1957;
  • the discovery of the p53 cancer suppressor gene by Sir David Lane in 1979; and
  • the development of Zantac and Ventolin by Sir David Jack during the 1980s.

The past decade has also been a period of groundbreaking life sciences innovation in Scotland which has seen:

  • the creation of Dolly the sheep by the Roslin Institute in 1997;
  • the introduction of the panoramic 200 Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope (P200) by Optos in 2000;
  • the launch in 2004 of the Touch Bionics Unique iLimb Hand with articulating fingers and a range of grips; and
  • the introduction in 2005 of the Aircraft Medical McGrath Series 5 - the world's first fully portable video laryngoscope.