That the Parliament welcomes the news that the University of Edinburgh’s Genomics facility has gained access to the most up-to-date gene sequencing technology; notes that the facility has acquired the new NovaSeq 600 system from Illumina, the first site in Scotland to deploy this technology, which will enable it to study the genetics of virtually any species, including bacteria, viruses and plants; understands that the new system also has the ability to analyse specific regions of the genome, which is less data intensive; believes that the availability of this technology at the University of Edinburgh’s Genomics facility will allow it to continue to offer the most cutting edge sequencing services to academic, agritech and medical groups, and considers that this news is another welcome boost for the university’s high international reputation for genomics and biosciences, which have the potential to be a significant driver of economic growth in Edinburgh and Lothian in the years ahead.