Karen Lowry Miller, Juggling Two Worlds, Newsweek International, November 29, 2004. A profile of Richard Jefferson, founder of BIOS, the open-source biology project. Excerpt: 'Jefferson developed a method for inserting genes into plants that gets around a thicket of patents, and he plans to make it widely available through his most radical move yet. Last month he launched the BIOS initiative to set up a protected commons in which scientists all over the world can collaborate on new ideas --much like what is happening now with open-source software. The thinking is that scientists in developed countries may have solutions to the kind of problems their counterparts in poor countries want to solve. "The idea that we should feed the world is paternalistic, patronizing silliness," says Jefferson. "The world can feed itself if we can lower the cost of innovation."..."Agriculture R&D for the developing world could be lost without a concept like BIOS and open source," says Gary Toenniessen, director of Food Security for the Rockefeller Foundation, which has long backed CAMBIA and put up $1 million to get BIOS off the ground. "[Jefferson] is the closest thing to a genius I've run into." '
Posted by
Peter Suber at 12/13/2004 09:25:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
