Major genomics conference features all-female speaker lineup

A major conference in the field of genomics featured an all-female lineup of speakers for the first time in its history. Genome Science 2019 saw 250 delegates from academia, healthcare and industry gather to discuss the opportunities and address the challenges of genome science and technology. Organised this year by the Roslin Institute and Edinburgh Genomics, the annual event has grown to a fully-fledged international conference from an informal meeting first taking place in 2007 in Nottingham. Held for the first time in the Scottish capital city, delegates will be travelling from as far as Australia for the three-day conference to explore a wide range of subjects such as disease resistance and animal conservation. Professor Mick Watson, Personal Chair of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology with the Roslin Institute has been part of the committee organising the event. He said: “As a frequent attendee of this conference over the years, myself and the team are thrilled to be hosting it in Edinburgh for the first time and to be welcoming four fantastic keynote speakers who will bring a wealth of insight from their own research and experiences. “When we first started meeting in Nottingham 12 years ago it was based upon the advances made in DNA sequencing technologies – it was a revolution of sorts in biological research. “It is a rapidly changing landscape so we find it hugely beneficial to meet up and discuss some of the opportunities and challenges we are all facing. Congregating in Edinburgh this year is a real sign of our city’s strength in genome research.”