Sharing the results of research critical to advancement of biological sciences

Dr Paul Schofield of the Department of Physiology Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge chaired an influential meeting on this issue in Rome in May of this year, supported by the European Commission-funded CASIMIR project (www.casimir.org.uk).

CASIMIR is tasked to look at the factors inhibiting the free exchange of data and materials between investigators using the mouse as a model system to study human disease.

The meeting was attended by senior representatives of major international research sponsors, leading scientific journals, intellectual property and technology transfer specialists and sociologists. It endorsed the need for global coordination and effective policies to reduce barriers to the free exchange of data and materials between scientists to ensure the sharing of research results and materials to maximize research benefit, optimize the use of research sponsorship and more effectively manage and optimize the dissemination of biological research results through academic or commercial channels.

Significant consensus was achieved, and the results of this important meeting are published in Nature this week. Research on mice as models for human diseases is of major current international importance and is essential until better alternatives are found if the full societal benefits of the elucidation of the human genome are to be achieved. Better sharing of data and existing mice will reduce the need to generate new model organisms and avoid unnecessary duplication.

One of the key findings of this study is the negative impact of over-restrictive licensing by some Universities and research agencies of genetically engineered mice and embryonic stem cells – the outputs of this research – and the failure of researchers to efficiently share their research results and materials by depositing their mice and ES cells in the major public repositories now in place in Europe, North America, Japan and Australia.

The meeting set an agenda for community discussion – The Rome Agenda – also free to access online, which outlines guidelines to enable sharing of biomaterials under the least restrictive terms, avoiding restrictive material transfer agreements (MTAs) where possible. The meeting also recommended increased investment in public databases and mouse repositories to keep pace with the rapid acceleration of research in this area.

Dr Schofield said: “Sharing of data and biological resources in the post-genomic age has become crucial to the advancement of the biomedical sciences. The agreements reached in Rome will help to coordinate the development of policies and infrastructure in international science resulting in huge advantages to the research community and better value for money to the public agencies and charities who fund the majority of this research.”

The Rome Agenda is intended to spark community discussion on this subject. Paul Schofield, Tania Bubela (University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada) and other meeting participants will respond to reader comments in two online forums on Nature Network which will go live after the embargo has lifted: http://network.nature.com/groups/naturenewsandopinion/forum/topics/5433 http://network.nature.com/groups/naturenewsandopinion/forum/topics/5434

Notes to Editors:

1. The commentary piece “Post-publication sharing of data and tools” is scheduled for publication in the journal Nature on 09 September 2009.

2. Further recent discussions of some of these issues can be found on the Nature website: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090603/full/459620a.html http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7248/full/459752a.html

Media Contact

Dr. Paul Schofield EurekAlert!

More Information:

http://www.cam.ac.uk

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors