All these groups are prime markets for Celera, which sells access to genetic databases. Venter said his scientists produced an accurate map without using any of the mouse data being made public by their rivals at federally financed genome-research centers. They had been criticized for using publicly financed data when they published details of a human genome map in February. But Venter's decision to forgo full publication means the controversy over technique is certain to continue. Many scientists are unlikely to accept Celera's claim that its method works reliably in the absence of a scientific paper accompanied by free public access to the underlying data.
Many biotechnology companies keep important results secret until they can be exploited.
By contrast, Venter has a long history of favoring scientific publication of significant results, even when they are potentially lucrative. In this instance, Celera executives noted that the company never promised to publish the genome of the laboratory mouse or to make the data freely available. The company does plan to publish a limited scientific paper, Venter said, and Celera will also self-publish a detailed monograph describing its work. Such a monograph, however, will not carry the weight of a scientific paper in a major journal that has been critiqued before publication by disinterested reviewers. Before agreeing to publish a full paper, leading scientific journals would likely force Celera to make its underlying data public in some form, negating one of the firm's major selling points.