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Science

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There are two major types of science, traditional academic research and business influenced science conducted by pharmaceutical and technology companies. James Shreeve discusses these branches of science, the race for the human genome, and prominent figures such as Craig Venter and Francis Collins in The Genome War. Traditional academic research is usually performed at universities and nonprofit organizations with public funding. Francis Collins, leader of the Human Genome Project, represents traditional science as his program is dedicated to the enhancement of knowledge for the common good, recognition, and awards. Conversely, science produced by pharmaceutical and technology companies is almost always motivated by the potential profits …show more content…

Historically the free release of data has transformed society’s knowledge of science. In the late 1800s, Gregor Mendel would publish his experiments on pea plant hybridization and heredity in his community’s journal. Although his work would take years to gain recognition, in 1900 “three scientists in three different countries grasped the implications of his paper and cited it in their own.” If Mendel had not published his work because of financial desires, basic questions about heredity may still exist. However, the open platform that the Human Genome Project and Mendel used exponentially benefits science as hundreds of thousands of scientists across the globe have complete access to information that may be the missing link in a revolutionary discovery for mankind. Academic researchers can focus solely on science, but private sector science is hindered by the distractions of building profits. Craig Venter would learn this during his experience at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), a nonprofit organization funded by the private company Human Genome Sciences (HGS). According to Shreeve, “If HGS found a gene to be potentially valuable to medicine, it could invoke a special clause granting it up to another year to explore the gene’s commercial value and patent it before Venter could make the data public.”

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