Priya Shetty, Free access GM 'toolkit' launched, SciDev.Net, February 11, 2005. Excerpt: 'Researchers in Australia have developed a new method of genetically modifying plants and are making their discovery accessible by other researchers through 'open source' licensing. The decision will make the technique available for free to scientists from developing countries who might otherwise be unable to afford to research genetic modification because of the restrictive costs of getting a licence to use the existing technique....The team's lead researcher Richard A. Jefferson is founder of the Biological Innovation for Open Society (BIOS), an initiative designed to increase the availability of scientific information to scientists in developing countries who cannot afford licensing costs of the existing patented technology. The CAMBIA research is available under an open source licence, which can be obtained from the BIOS website. Although the work will still be patented, such licences prevent an individual or group from holding a monopoly over information they have discovered or created. The only restrictions the project applies are that users share any improvements, safety information and regulatory data, and preserve the opportunity for others to use and improve the technology. Jefferson told SciDev.Net that he believed free access to biotechnologies would help scientists collaborate under a 'rule-set' that guarantees as far as possible that the original work will be retained as building blocks, transparently evaluated and incorporated into new products. Scientists would also be able to work without the costs of negotiating licence agreements, he added.'
Posted by
Peter Suber at 2/12/2005 08:48:00 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.
