Keep genome data freely accessible, The Lancet, September 25, 2004. An unsigned and OA editorial. Excerpt: "[W]hile free and open access to [scientific] data is a boon to science, it carries some risk: among the genome sequences freely available on the internet are those for more than 100 pathogens, including the organisms that cause anthrax, botulism, smallpox, Ebola haemorrhagic fever, and plague. It is possible that a government, a terrorist organisation, or even an individual could use data from these repositories to create novel pathogens that could be used as weapons. Concerned about this possibility, several US agencies...commissioned the National Academies of Science...to convene a scientific panel to evaluate the risk and recommend policies to govern access to such data. On Sept 9, the panel released its report Seeking security: pathogens, open access, and genome databases. The panel concluded, rightly, that current policies should remain unchanged....The panel noted that the threat of misuse is not as great as some might fear....But even if sequences were identified as being particularly dangerous, the panel noted that it would be 'difficult, expensive, and probably counterproductive' to try to restrict access to these data....The current system also offers tremendous benefits. The panel pointed to the recent experience with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as an example of the power of an open system....But beyond the practical, open-access policies of the genome database repositories serve another purpose. One that might, in the long run, be more important. They present the world with a model of international cooperation, trust, and altruism that offers a compelling alternative to the worldview of those who would use bioweapons to impose their political and ideological views."
Posted by
Peter Suber at 9/24/2004 09:01:00 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.
