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Nature 417, 573 (6 June 2002) | doi:10.1038/417573a

Open Innovation Challenges

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Genomics and taxonomy for all

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Principles of access to public and private databases are often contentious, and a proposal in this issue will no doubt spark more debate. Meanwhile, Nature is taking a small step towards a database for taxonomists.

Arguments about access to published data reached a peak of intensity when the draft sequence of the human genome was published in February last year. They resurface from time to time, and this week Ari Patrinos and Dan Drell make the case for allowing industry to restrict access as a trade-off for making valuable data publicly available (see page 589).