US Company Celera Genomics is to publish its version of the entire human genetic code in Science early next year, after being granted special data access arrangements by the journal. The firm will not put all its raw data into the public database GenBank, as is normally required by journals publishing DNA sequence information. Instead, the raw data will only be available to paying subscribers via Celera's website, although it will be free (in limited amounts) to academic researchers.
The editor of Science, Donald Kennedy, said last week: 'Science has concluded that this access agreement represents an excellent solution for scientists, without restricting subsequent commercial development by the company'. But John Sulston, former director of the UK's Sanger Centre, criticised the deal. 'I strongly believe that it is going to be to the detriment of science and medical research' he told the Los Angeles Times. The publicly-funded Human Genome Project is also apparently about to submit its data for publication. According to a report in the New York Times, the leaders of the project told Donald Kennedy that whether they published in Science or a competing journal depended on whether they were comfortable with Science's decision about Celera's data.
Kennedy defended his decision last week as a necessary compromise. 'We need a way to fulfil the objective of scientific publication and the objective of protection for [Celera's] intellectual property' he said.
Sources and References
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Genome data access row
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Celera to charge other companies to use its genome data
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Deal on publishing genome paper criticised
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Restrictions on DNA data reignite debate
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