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PRESS RELEASE: Bioinformatics.Org announces the laureate of the 2003 Benjamin Franklin Award
Submitted by J.W. Bizzaro; posted on Wednesday, January 08, 2003

HUDSON, Massachusetts--January 2003--The Bioinformatics Organization (Bioinformatics.Org) announces the laureate of the 2003 Benjamin Franklin Award.

Benjamin Franklin[1] (1706-1790) was one of the most remarkable men of his time. Scientist, inventor, statesman, Franklin freely and openly shared his ideas and refused to patent his inventions. In the opinion of the Bioinformatics.Org founders he embodied the best traits of a scientist, and we seek to honor those who share these virtues.

The Benjamin Franklin Award[2] is presented annually by Bioinformatics.Org to an individual who has promoted freedom and openness in the field of bioinformatics.

James Kent[3] is awarded the 2003 Benjamin Franklin Award for developing "GigAssembler," a 10,000 line program that he wrote in a month and then used to assemble the public human genome fragments. This feat was accomplished before Celera Genomics was able to assemble their private genome, helping to keep the data in the public domain and unrestricted by commercial patents. Because of Kent's efforts, the members of Bioinformatics.Org believe he best embodies the ideals of Benjamin Franklin.

Kent was selected over six other nominees this fall by a vote of the individual members of Bioinformatics.Org.

The ceremony for the presentation of the Award will be held at the 3rd Annual Meeting of Bioinformatics.Org in San Diego, California, at the O'Reilly Bioinformatics Technology Conference[4]. It involves a short introduction, the presentation of the certificate, and the laureate seminar by Kent[5].

References:
1. http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/rotten.html
2. http://bioinformatics.org/franklin/
3. [link]
4. [link]
5. [link]

About Bioinformatics.Org:
By providing free and open resources for research, development and education, Bioinformatics.Org promotes freedom and openness in the field of bioinformatics. The Organization was established in 1998 and hopes to lower the barrier to entering and participating in the field, as access to cutting-edge resources can be prohibitively expensive for those working individually, in small groups, at poorly-funded institutions or in developing nations.

Bioinformatics.Org celebrates the registration of the 5,000th member. Along with nearly 100 hosted projects, the Organization is now one of the largest in the field.

Contact:
J.W. Bizzaro, Bioinformatics Organization President
jeff@bioinformatics.org

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