The transfer of scientific data has emerged as a significant challenge, as datasets continue to grow in size and demand for open access sharing increases. Current methods for file transfer do not scale well for large files and can cause long transfer times. In this study we present BioTorrents, a website that allows open access sharing of scientific data…

Large amounts of data are being generated annually on the connection between the sequence, structure and function of proteins. However, much experimental data are never deposited in databases and is thus ‘lost’ in journal publications or in PhD theses. At the same time theoretical scientists are in need of large amounts of experimental data for benchmarking and calibrating.

Contemporary bioscience sometimes demands vast sample sizes and there is often then no choice but to synthesize data across several studies and to undertake an appropriate pooled analysis. This same need is also faced in health-services and socio-economic research. When a pooled analysis is required, analytic efficiency and flexibility are often best served by combining the individual-level data….

Blog by Luke Timmerman – Sage Bionetworks, the Seattle-based nonprofit seeking to spark a movement toward open-source style sharing of biological data, is announcing today it has secured a partnership with Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company.
Financial terms, and the length of the collaboration, aren’t being disclosed. But the deal will bring in enough cash for Sage to add some [...]

BALTIMORE, MD (Oct. 1, 2009) – The Johns Hopkins University Sheridan Libraries have been awarded $20 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to build a data research infrastructure for the management of the ever-increasing amounts of digital information created for teaching and research. The five-year award, announced today, was one of two for what is being called “data curation.”

WASHINGTON (Sep. 17, 2009) – A report released today by the National Research Council calls on the United States to launch a new multiagency, multiyear, and multidisciplinary initiative to capitalize on the extraordinary advances recently made in biology and to accelerate new breakthroughs.

Despite existing guidelines on access to data and bioresources, good practice is not widespread. A meeting of mouse researchers in Rome proposes ways to promote a culture of sharing.

Rapid release of pre-publication data has served the field of genomics well. Attendees at a workshop in Toronto recommend extending the practice to other biological data sets.