Getting down to business at the start of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s 350^th anniversary year, Chair of the Board of Trustees Dominic Fry is briefed by Dr Michelle Hart on how the use of high throughput DNA sequencing technologies is revolutionising molecular research.

Dr Hart heads the Botanics team contributing to the ground-breaking Darwin Tree of Life to sequence the DNA of all species in the British Isles. Working with nine partner organisations, including the University of Edinburgh and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, on the £9.4m Wellcome-funded Darwin Tree of Life, her team brings world-leading expertise. There is particular focus on important Scottish groups such as ferns, mosses, liverworts, lichens and flowering plants including the rare Scottish primrose (Primula scotica) and delicate twinflower (Linnaea borealis).