Online Collaboration in Research
An interesting experiment in "open source" biomedical research is underway at an online organization called "The Synaptic Leap". The group initially is focused on important but under-researched tropical diseases that do not hold large profit potential for pharmaceutical companies - malaria, schistosomiasis, and tuberculosis - but the approach is applicable in any field.
The web site gives the rationale: "Biomedical science is indivisible. The physical and psychological barriers that divide scientific communities are ultimately artificial and counterproductive. We see online collaboration as a natural way to bridge these gaps and pool information that is currently too fragmented for anyone to use. An open, collaborative research community will find new ways to do science, answering questions that current institutions find difficult or impossible."
An article in the July 24, 2006 issue of Chemical & Engineering News (pp. 34-35) describes the process: "Online discussions will prioritize a list of experiments that anyone can take on. Raw data will be posted online and discussed. Members of the consortium will solicit further ideas and expertise, hoping the greater research community steps up to the plate. The group ... hopes that volunteered time, computer power, and reagents will eventually result in a portfolio of drug leads that will be made freely available for development."
The article also discusses some of the potential down-sides, notably the possible negation of the ability to publish in peer reviewed journals or to patent discoveries, due to prior on-line disclosure which place the work in the public domain.
These issues will undoubtedly get sorted out, but the basic idea seems attractive and applicable to many other areas of research and scholarship. Research is built on a delicate balance of individual priority-seeking effort and open discussion within the interested research community. The Synaptic Leap project shifts the balance to the public side, but need not eliminate individual motivation. It provides an opportunity for broader public input into establishing research priorities and suggesting new approaches. Many of these may not pan out; but as more than one world-class scientist has said, the way to have good ideas is to have lots of ideas and then winnow down to the most promising.