Genomic sequence information should be released immediately and freely in the public domain

Science

Volumn 274, Issue 5287, 1996, Pages 533-534

  Bentley, David R ^a  

^a WELLCOME TRUST SANGER INSTITUTE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BIOTECHNOLOGY; DATA BASE; DNA DETERMINATION; DNA SEQUENCE; GENE SEQUENCE; HEALTH CARE POLICY; HUMAN; HUMAN CELL; INFORMATION SERVICE; MOLECULAR CLONING; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SEQUENCE ANALYSIS; SHORT SURVEY;

BIOMEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH; GENETIC INFORMATION; GENETICS AND REPRODUCTION; HUMAN GENOME PROJECT; INFORMATION DISSEMINATION; INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS; INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY MEETING ON HUMAN GENOME SEQUENCING; RESEARCH INSTITUTES; RISKS AND BENEFITS; STANDARDS;

BASE SEQUENCE; CHROMOSOME MAPPING; DATABASES, FACTUAL; DNA; GENETIC PRIVACY; GENOME; GENOME, HUMAN; HUMANS; INFORMATION DISSEMINATION; INFORMATION MANAGEMENT; INTERNATIONALITY; PATENTS; PRIVATE SECTOR; PUBLIC SECTOR; RISK ASSESSMENT; SEQUENCE ANALYSIS, DNA;

EID: 0029823610     PISSN: 00368075     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1126/science.274.5287.533     Document Type: Short Survey

References (11)

1. The first International Strategy Meeting on Human Genome Sequencing, organized by the Wellcome Trust, was held in Bermuda, 25 to 28 February 1996. Participants included representatives of laboratories involved in human genome sequencing and of funding agencies, who met to discuss strategy, progress and plans, policies for data release, and the implications of such policies. The "Bermuda statement" was endorsed unanimously by all participants. See Human Genome News 7 (no. 6), 19 (1996).
2. The provision of genomic information to the public in three stages - as sequence-ready maps, as assembled shotgun sequence data, and as finished and annotated consensus sequence of each bacterial clone - was first practiced from the outset of the Caenorhabditis elegans genome project by the groups of R. Waterston (Washington University, St. Louis) and J. Sulston (the Sanger Centre). The same practice has been implemented for the release of human genomic sequence data at both centers. This data release policy is endorsed by both the Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health. Other centers are also practicing or planning forms of data release, including the Whitehead Institute, The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), Baylor College of Medicine, and others. See also (8); E. Marshall and E. Pennisi, Science 272, 188 (1996); National Science Council, Report of the Committee on Mapping and Sequencing the Human Genome (National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1988).
3. The provision of genomic information to the public in three stages - as sequence-ready maps, as assembled shotgun sequence data, and as finished and annotated consensus sequence of each bacterial clone - was first practiced from the outset of the Caenorhabditis elegans genome project by the groups of R. Waterston (Washington University, St. Louis) and J. Sulston (the Sanger Centre). The same practice has been implemented for the release of human genomic sequence data at both centers. This data release policy is endorsed by both the Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health. Other centers are also practicing or planning forms of data release, including the Whitehead Institute, The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), Baylor College of Medicine, and others. See also (8); E. Marshall and E. Pennisi, Science 272, 188 (1996); National Science Council, Report of the Committee on Mapping and Sequencing the Human Genome (National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1988).
4. In most cases, the preliminary assembled shotgun sequence data provide sequence representing around 90% of insert of the bacterial clone in a few large contiguous sequences that are virtually free of artifacts. Ongoing refinement of the shotgun strategy and sequencing biochemistry is resulting in further improvements to the quality and coverage of the initial assembled sequence. In addition to the prerelease of unfinished sequence at the FTP sites of the sequencing centers, the National Center for Biotechnology Information and the European Bioinformatics Institute are planning to provide centralized access to the unfinished sequence in the public domain.
5. R. Wooster et al., Nature 378, 789 (1995); S. Tavtigian et al., Nature Genet. 12, 333 (1996).
6. R. Wooster et al., Nature 378, 789 (1995); S. Tavtigian et al., Nature Genet. 12, 333 (1996).
7. The proposal to determine the genomic sequence representing more than 90% of the human genome at an accuracy of 99.95% or greater was reported by E. Marshall, Science 267, 783 (1995). The agreement to aim for completion of contiguous sequence at an accuracy of 99.99% (equivalent to the standard achieved for Caenorhabditis elegans) was promoted at the Bermuda meeting [see (1)].
8. Human Genome Organization Statement on Patenting of DNA Sequences, 1995.
9. BioIndustries Association, The Patentability of Human Genes (1995).
10. National Center for Human Genome Research, Policy on Availability and Patenting of Human Genomic DNA Sequence Produced by NCHGR Pilot Projects, 9 April 1996.
11. Written on behalf of the Sanger Centre, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK, and Genome Sequencing Center, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA.