PC Plus UK: Bytes and biology: cracking the code

J.W. Bizzaro • December 16, 2003

PC Plus UK: Bytes and biology: cracking the code

This is an extensive article about open-access bioinformatics, written by Gary Marshall. It includes lots of quotes from the president of Bioinformatics.Org (yours truly).

``Scientific secrets: `Sharing of information is something that's deeply embedded in the scientific community,' says Dr Bessant. `Most of us scientists (whether in academia or industry) want to tell people what we're doing. Bioinformatics is no exception, and free access to data and software tools tends to be the norm. A lot of public money has been spent on the human genome project and associated work, so it's only fair that we should all be able to access the results. Having said that, there are huge commercial opportunities out there when it comes to exploiting the data and turning it into drugs, diagnostic tools and healthcare services.'

``Those commercial opportunities could be a cause for concern: incredibly, it's possible for organisations to patent newly discovered gene sequences as if they'd invented them. As the Bioinformatics Organisation (http://bioinformatics.org) notes, `many genes for HIV, cancers and blindness, for example, are currently owned... newly discovered sequences are considered unique chemical compounds and are thus patentable.' The algorithms used to analyse genetic data can also be patented, which makes it more difficult for scientists to share knowledge.''

Full story (originally in print, Issue 203 of PC Plus UK; now available only in PDF form):
http://www.pcplus.co.uk/media/pcplus/pdf/203/203.feature.cracking%20dna.pdf

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