David Bollier, Open Science Triumphs Over the Proprietary Genome, On the Commons, May 5, 2005. Excerpt: 'Seven years ago, entrepreneur Craig Venter started the Celera Genomics Corp. in a brazen attempt to map and privatize information about the human genome. The company's stated goal was to become "the definitive source of genomic and associated medical information." Nobel Prize winner Sir John Sulston, the renowned scientist who led the Human Genome Project in Great Britain, said that "the whole future of biology came under threat" as a result of Celera's work. "For one company was bidding for monopoly control of access to the most fundamental information about humanity, information that is – or should be – our common heritage." Celera’s defiant propertization of genomic data violated some of the most basic principles of science as a commons. Because Celera refused to release its data to anyone but subscribers, it was difficult for scientists to independently verify Celera's data. Nor could they use the information make new discoveries and medical innovations. By contrast, in the best traditions of science, the rival Human Genome Project made its genomic data accessible to anyone as soon as possible. The good news, announced last week, is that Celera's business model has failed and open science has prevailed. The "Book of Life," in its entirety, will belong to all of us....The chief scientific officer of Celera's sister company, Applied Biosystems, told the Associated Press: "The data has more value to everybody as part of the public domain. Combining it with public data will overall help public science." A spokesperson for Craig Venter graciously, but incorrectly, said, "This is something he [Venter] has been in favor of all along." '
Posted by
Peter Suber at 5/06/2005 10:24:00 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.
