Science and the Parliament
Published: 18 November 2013
On 13 November, scientists and MSPs came together at the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Science and the Parliament event at Holyrood, to champion Scottish science.
On the 13 November, scientists and MSPs came together at the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Science and the Parliament event at Holyrood, to champion the role of Scottish science in finding solutions to global health challenges and to strengthen links between Scotland’s scientific and political communities. This year’s event focused on the contribution of Scottish science and engineering to human health.
Professor Anna Dominiczak, Regius Professor of Medicine, Vice Principal and Head of College presented at the conference along with Professor Darren Monckton, Professor of Human Genetics. 
Professor Dominiczak presented on stratified medicine – recognised as the future for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. A ‘one size fits all’ approach has served well but is now seen as increasingly inefficient and unaffordable. Stratified medicine means tailoring treatment to those who will benefit most and selecting out those who will predictably experience adverse reactions. It relies critically upon information, the integration of new data sets to form a comprehensive ‘personal’ healthcare record.
Professor Darren Monckton presented on genome sequencing, explaining how the cost and time it takes to sequence a genome have fallen dramatically and how advances in technology were allowing scientists to further refine our understanding of the genetic factors underlying common complex disorders. Whole genome sequencing is becoming de rigueur in nearly every area of biology and is set to increasingly impact in healthcare.
Professor Lesley Yellowlees the Royal Society of Chemistry’s President and & Vice Principal of the University of Edinburgh said: “Topics such as antibiotic resistance and personalised medicine are among the challenges being tackled by chemists right now. To enable them to find the new treatments we will need to look after our nation’s health in the future, we need a long-term commitment to increase investment in scientific research.”
Science and the Parliament is an annual event that promotes engagement between members of the science and engineering communities, MSPs and other policy makers in the Scottish Parliament and Government. It has been run by the Royal Society of Chemistry every year since shortly after the Scottish Parliament was established, and attracts over 300 delegates.
For further information, go to http://www.rsc.org/
First published: 18 November 2013
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