Wednesday, May 09, 2001

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Wired News Free Mouse Genome, Step Right Up
"A government and industry effort to map the genome of the mouse is 95 percent complete, and the data is free to anyone who wants it."

"In April, Celera Genomics , the company that created its own map of the human genome, said it had completed an assembly of the mouse genome, but that they would not publish their data in a scientific journal. Only those who pay for a subscription to Celera's databases will have access to it."

GenomeWeb Wellcome Trust Launches Ad Campaign for Public Databases
"Britain’s Wellcome Trust has launched a print advertising campaign to promote the public human genome databases, including the UK-based Ensembl database, after a survey revealed that only half of the biomedical scientists were aware of the freely available offerings."

"“After our large scale investment in the Human Genome Project, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that the public resources are fully utilised, in order to deliver the health benefits that will undoubtedly flow from the use of this information,” said Mike Dexter, director of the Wellcome Trust."

Sri Lanka Lakehouse Daily News WWW.Human Genome
"The Internet could turnout to become the equaliser in the brave new world of research into human genetics - up to a point.

Following a fierce dispute, the data on the reading of the human genetic code has been published on the Internet to make it accessible to scientists anywhere. The result has been a flood of research projects in the developing world into data that would otherwise not have been accessible."

"During the past couple of months, the public genome databases have ben used by scientists 160,000 times in India, 61,000 times in Mexico and about 50,000 times each in China and in Brazil. The data is being accessed daily by about 10,000 organisations around the world."

IEEE Spectrum Open-Source Biology And Its Impact on Industry
" The toolbox of biochemistry, the parts list--"the kernel," to stretch the software analogy--is shared by all organisms on the planet. In general, organisms differ from one another because of their order of gene expression or because of relatively subtle perturbations to protein structures common to all forms of terrestrial life. That is, innovation in the natural world in some sense has always followed the idea of a service and flow economy. If the environment is static, only when an organism figures out how to use the old toolbox to provide itself, or another organism, with a new service is advantage conferred.

The analogy to future industrial applications of biology is clear: When molecular biologists figure out the kernel of biology, innovation by humans will consist of tweaking the parts to provide new services. Because of the sheer amount of information, it is unlikely that a single corporate entity could maintain a monopoly on the kernel. Eventually, as design tasks increase in number and sophistication, corporations will have to share techniques and this information will inevitably spread widely, reaching all levels of technical ability--the currency of the day will be innovation and design. As with every other technology developed by humans, biological technology will be broadly disseminated."

Technology based on intentional, open-source biology is on its way, whether we like it or not, and the opportunity it represents will just begin to emerge in the next 50 years."