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Guys, your responses keep on throwing up more questions than answers.

I will come to Professor Holden first, if he does not mind. This has nothing to do with the committee’s inquiry, but your comments sparked some interest in me. You talked about ancestral genomes. What time range does that ancestry cover? Does it depend on the particular genome? That question is purely for my own interest.

Okay.

I am concerned by the fact that you have all talked about the lack of funding next year. As someone with a background in sheep farming, I know that antimicrobial resistance is a major problem in that sector, because of the overuse of antibiotics, wormers and all that stuff. What work are you doing on that? Is that the kind of thing that you could put to Government? I know that it sounds like you are selling something, but, in effect, that is what you are doing. Can you say to Government, “This is what we’re working on and, if we can keep the genomic service going, we can put something more in place that will add value to what we’re already doing”? I know that it sounds ridiculous to have to say that, but can you put something like that to Government to maintain your funding?

Do you want to expand on that? [Laughter.]

What is it?

That can give you information to pass on to health boards to say, “This is what it looks like, and this is what we think is coming.”

Right. What does it do?

Yes—that is probably an important part of it.

That is excellent. Professor Peacock, did you want to come in?

Grand. Peter Singleton wants to comment, but I will put two more questions or thoughts to the witnesses before he does so.

First, do you now have a resource that can be upscaled if necessary? Secondly, I ask George Ponton to say how you get community sampling done. I am thinking of specific small communities. We have often heard that areas of deprivation were the hardest hit by Covid, and in some communities the uptake of vaccinations has not been high enough. Are you in a position to be able to go to specific areas to find out whether a community is in trouble or not?

I will bring in Peter Singleton first, and then the other witnesses can comment on those two points.