Caroline Wagner and Frank Fukuyama outline the policy implications of the convergence of biotechnology and information technology, while biologists Daniel Drell, Anna Palmisano, and Marvin E. Frazier eloquently describe the some of the potential scientific research and applications. What this may mean for the practicing clinician is the subject of Joshua Lederberg's essay. At stake are potentially lucrative patent rights to the genomic information. For still others, it is an expression of intellectual property and, therefore, subject to the laws that govern its use.
Patent is another matter.
The debate over the legislation has often been framed in terms of creators versus users, but that is an over-simplification. According to Band, some scholarly and commercial value-added publishers, such as Bloomberg Financial Markets and Dun and Bradstreet, are very concerned about restrictions potentially imposed by database legislation. Historically, publishers have supported the scientific research enterprise through peer review, editorial judgment and selection, and, yes, aggregation and distribution. It is discussed here by Joshua Lederberg, Karen Hunter, and Judith Turner. This debate has many parts.