ABSTRACT
I feel deeply honoured at being invited to give the George Bidder Lecture this year. I was asked to talk about tissue culture ; as it happens this is a not inappropriate subject for the present occasion, because Dr Bidder was one of the original benefactors of the Cambridge Research Hospital, which later was renamed the Strangeways Research Laboratory in honour of its founder and became the chief centre for tissue culture in this country. When the Hospital was built in 1911, Dr Bidder thought that it ought to have more land and so with characteristic generosity provided the necessary funds for the purchase of another acre. I cannot tell you how grateful we have been for that extra land as the Laboratory has developed and expanded through the years, and how much we appreciate Dr Bidder’s foresight and kindness.
