Toward unrestricted use of public genomic data

Abstract

Publication interests should not limit access to public data

Three challenges to contemporaneous taxonomy from a licheno-mycological perspective

“…LÜCKING 90 • Megataxa 1 (1) © 2020 Magnolia Press commercial value and the idea of such data to provide a national resource for revenue exploitation is nonsense. The currently discussed idea that published basic digital sequence information (DSI) should be regulated under the Nagoya Protocol is not just misguided (Kupferschmidt 2018;Laird & Wynberg 2018), but contradicts established ethics of scientific conduct, according to which published data, including sequence data, must be broadly and freely accessible (Arzberger et al 2004;Mauthner et al 2013;Amann et al 2019). While it is obvious that commercial, revenue-producing use of DSI must fall under the protocol, there is no known benefit-sharing mechanism for the repeated use of once published sequence data for basic research, other than properly citing the source.…”

Biomedical research: lessons from the last decade’s crisis and austerity-stricken small countries for the current COVID-19-related crisis

“…The examples described above, which stem from a range of research fields, hopefully illustrate how a small, resource-poor country's well-educated research force and rich natural diversity represent a model for dealing with the global research agenda during crises and austerity times. Providing resources to local and foreign collaborating scientists should be sustained, and quality checkpoints assessing alignment with international scientific standards (including bioethical, biosecurity, biosafety and biobanking principles and guidelines, as well as commonly accepted standards of reproducibility, such as integrity, validation methodologies and data openness 15 ) should continue to be met. Ultimately, these examples will pave the way for other small countries to look into their own human and natural resources to develop their competitive advantages in the emerging economically harsh global era.…”

Springboard to science from the ‘Worn Out Niche’ of a research resource‐limited environment: Greece must get serious about research and development

“…Thus, training in computational biology and medicine and the international 'open access' data policies can be of tremendous importance in our resource-limited environment. 16,17 Moreover, researchers of Greek descent have been successful-and even pioneers-in meta-research, such as performing meta-analyses and systematic reviews and empirical large-scale evaluations of research practices, which also require creation of or access to computational and data resources. 18 In summary, the underfunding or misappropriated funding of science along with inefficient and bureaucratic structures and processes in resource-poor countries can be detrimental to their welfare and future.…”

“…Nonetheless, such ‘big data’ research requires not only know‐how, but also computational resources, which are now being built in Greece. Thus, training in computational biology and medicine and the international ‘open access’ data policies can be of tremendous importance in our resource‐limited environment . Moreover, researchers of Greek descent have been successful—and even pioneers—in meta‐research, such as performing meta‐analyses and systematic reviews and empirical large‐scale evaluations of research practices, which also require creation of or access to computational and data resources …”