NIH data and resource sharing, data release and intellectual property policies for genomics community resource projects

Abstract

The rationale behind the development and adoption of various data release, data and research resource sharing, and patent policies for ‘pre-competitive’ biological information and critical reagents, notably DNA sequence information, genomic data and research tools generated by National Institutes of Health (NIH) partners and deposited in open access databases and repositories, is described. Specifically covered are the relevant policies implemented by NIH-supported public–private consortia efforts such the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium (IHGSC), the Trans-NIH Mouse Initiative, the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC) and the International Haplotype Map Project (HapMap). All of these research initiatives are considered to be community resource projects. In addition, a few key genomics research-related intellectual property (IP) concerns are discussed in conjunction with some proposed possible policy and legal remedies. The hope is that the knowledge gained from the use of the biological resources and the analysis of data generated from these large-scale genomics projects will be a catalyst for future innovative research including the commercial development of new medicines.

• community resource project
• database
• data release
• data sharing
• genomics
• HapMap
• human genome project (HGP)
• intellectual property (IP)
• Human Genome Sequencing Consortium (IHGSC)
• International Sequencing Consortium (ISC)
• licensing
• Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC)
• National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
• open access
• patent
• policy
• research tool
• Trans-NIH Mouse Initiative, The SNP Consortium (TSC)
• US National Institutes of Health (NIH)