Public vs. Private Debates - is there Light at the End of the Tunnel?
The issue of public versus private ownership of scientific information is one of the intensely debated topic facing current industries, specifically within the computing, bioinformatics and life science sectors. The debate reached new heights after the decoding of the human genome which many consider to be the most significant scientific breakthroughs in the modern era. Notably, this scientific landmark witnessed an intense race between the commercial organisations, rushing to submit patents on as many of their identified gene sequence data sets as possible, and the academic sectors rushing to place as many of their determined gene sequences on the public domain for free access.
The decoding of the human genome has implications in many areas of health and science and has accelerated the developments of new fields of study such as genomics, bioinformatics and proteomics. Progress in all these fields is highly inter-dependent. For example, bioinformatics and genomics are intricately linked; one is heavily dependent on the other. Bioinformatics provides the tools for storage, retrieval and analysis of data that emanate from genomics. So for a bioinformatician, free and unfettered access to various genome databases is a prerequisite for understanding the structure and function of the various genes and their role in disease processes.
The question of access to genome data is a hotly debated issue involving some of the leading scientists in the field. Sir John Sulston, co-recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize, is the most high-profile scientist arguing the case that genome data should be made publicly available. He compares the genome data to the periodic table in that they both contain fundamental and basic information that all scientists need. In his opinion, genome data for different organisms should be publicly available in one place to facilitate comparative analysis and exchange of information that is so vital for making scientific advances.
In contrast, Craig Venter, the most high-profile scientist from the private sector, held a different position and his company, Celera Genomics, restricted public access to their human genome data. These differing positions have created a debate that continues to rage on. However, there is little doubt that free access to genome data has been responsible for triggering a wide array of scientific advances in both academia and industry. Scientists utilising this freely available information have identified a large number of novel genes responsible for some of the deadly diseases afflicting human beings, paving the way for development of drugs and diagnostic tools. Few would disagree that such rapid progress would not have occurred if scientists were prevented from accessing and utilising the information that was made available by the publicly funded genome project. It is therefore hardly surprising that many scientists fully support the concept of open access to genome data.
The recent decision by Celera genomics to change their mind and provide free public access to their human genome database is a turning point in the private versus public debate over access to genome data. It may well be that genomics, like bioinformatics, will also be dominated by the free access culture. Such an environment will only be good for science, creating greater collaboration and cooperation between the scientists in academia and industry, eliminating unnecessary suspicion and secrecy that is often associated in encounters between these two communities.
Similarly, history has proven that collaborations between corporations and open-source or publicly funded organisations in the field of computing and information technology (IT) do actually produce significant results to a greater extent in the form of new products and services, as well as research and development.
The best example of such developments is Linux, an operating system developed by a student (Linus Torvalds) in 1991 as a “hobby” to become one of the worlds most respected, and of course popular, operating systems that have attracted major interests from global organisations, including IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Novell and many more. Such evolution and popularity of Linux as one of the major enterprise and mission-critical solutions, and possibly a threat for a number of existing operating systems, can be attributed to the global contributions from developers and programmers for the benefit of the Linux community.
However, the commercialisation of some of the aspects of the operating system in the form of different distributions also played an important part in the current status of Linux. In other words, the combination of both commercialisation and public contributions made Linux what it is today, and businesses, universities and government agencies, as well as life science organisations around the world are benefiting from its advanced networking, development and security features.
The current bioscience computing industry is also witnessing a growing number of collaborations between private and public organisations involved in bioscience computing related research and development. The recent agreement between LION Bioscience and the Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) is another most recent example of such collaborations, which took place last month. This agreement allows EBI and other publicly funded institutions to use LIONs’ latest versions of SRS technology, a bioinformatics data integration platform with the ability to integrate diverse life science data with the standard bioinformatics analysis tools. Both organisations clearly stated that such collaborations would benefit the bioinformatics community worldwide.
Although some might still favour either side of this arena, it must be stressed that there are substantial benefits from both public and private sectors, which must not be ignored. Although the collaborations described above are great examples of such benefits, they constitute a small proportion of such developments in bioscience computing related sectors. Nevertheless, both public and private organisations are becoming more open minded towards collaborative projects, which are also strongly supported and encouraged by the government.
In our opinion, the future of computational biology and life sciences is bright and, undoubtedly, there is light at the end of the tunnel.