From: xgl (xli03@emory.edu)
Date: Wed May 30 2001 - 15:50:48 MDT
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 13:16:55 PDT
From: "AP / STEPHEN MANNING, AP Business Writer" <C-ap@clari.net>
Subject: Free Scientific Database Planned
IBM and a Canadian biotech firm announced Wednesday a joint, nonprofit
venture creating a free online clearinghouse for scientific research
aimed at capitalizing on genetic breakthroughs to speed drug
development.
Blueprint Worldwide Inc. said it plans to make the database a
repository for research on protein interaction in humans and other
organisms.
Blueprint, which introduced the database at a news conference in
Ottawa, said it will pull the information from sources that include
academic journals, government research and biotechnology companies
willing to share their research.
The joint venture between IBM and the Canadian biotech firm MDS
Proteomics has not yet chosen a location for its headquarters. The
companies, along with academic funders, contributed a total of $5.8
million to launch the venture.
Much of the protein research is already available, but is scattered
among many different sources, said Francis Ouellette, the Canadian
scientist who will lead Blueprint.
"What we propose is to unify under one umbrella all this data in one
place," Ouellette said.
Blueprint will begin with 200,000 scientific journal articles and 30 to
40 smaller protein interaction databases.
Protein research, or proteomics, is the next step for scientists hoping
to build on information gleaned from the recently deciphered human
genome to create new pharmaceuticals.
The genome instructs cells to produce various proteins, which perform
most functions in the body. Genetic errors, however, can lead to
proteins that cause diseases and other health problems. Understanding
the role of proteins also could lead to new treatments and cures.
Blueprint is the latest group to dive into the burgeoning market for
genetic information.
Public efforts such as the genetic database GenBank, run by the
National Institutes of Health, distribute their information for free.
However, some biotechnology firms such as Rockville, Md.-based Celera
Genomics, sell access to databases.
"This is very different from the Celera model," said Ouellette. "We
believe that having full access to the data and not hiding anything is
going to allow both academia and industry move science forward."
Persuading biotech companies to yield their data to Blueprint, however,
may be difficult.
Myriad Genetics Inc. recently partnered with Oracle Corp. and Hitachi
Ltd. to map the human proteome in within three years at a cost of $185
million. It sees Blueprint as more a repository for academic reports
rather than the source of drug discovery.
"Myriad won't initially be making its data public. It's a resource we
will license to pharmaceutical companies," said company spokesman
William A. Hockett.
Any database is only as good as the data that goes into it, said Josh
LaBaer, director of the Harvard Institute of Proteomics, who had not
yet seen Blueprint.
"The intent of having it available to the public is a terrific concept,
but the devil is in the details," LaBaer said.
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On the Net:
http://www.blueprint.org
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