Nobel-Worthy Open Access Research
abernard102@gmail.com 2012-10-26
Summary:
In an article published last year in PLOS Biology, Gurdon took the understanding of this process further, showing that, due to small differences in the genome, the cell nucleus of one species is unable to drive development of the egg of a distantly related species... Gurdon’s fellow Nobel Laureate, Shinya Yamanaka, of Kyoto University and the Gladstone Institutes (San Francisco, USA), allowed the field to move closer to human therapeutic applications... Over the last three years, Dr. Yamanaka has published his work in open access journal PLOS ONE nine times. According to the publisher, his influential paper presenting this method of reprogramming adult cells, with its great potential for clinical applications, has been viewedover 16,000 times. Thousands and thousands of opportunities for this important information to be shared. 2012’s winners in the Medicine or Physiology category were not the only ones to share their findings freely with the research community and the world. Brian Kobilka of the Stanford University School of Medicine, one of this year’s laureates in Chemistry, also published in PLOS ONE, a mere week before the announcement of his award... Should it be any surprise that Nobel-level scientists see value in associating themselves with Open Access publishing? Hardly. Especially given that one of the three founders of the groundbreaking PLOS, Harold Varmus, is himself one: Varmus shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. There are still kinks in the system that need to be worked out, but to do so should not take a Nobel-worthy effort. What it will require is thoughtful examination of research funding and the possible economic models for Open Access, as well as discussion among as many players as possible concerned with the sharing of research results. You can be part of this discussion, tomorrow night at UNESCO, as part of International Open Access Week. MyScienceWork invites you to participate in this event by learning about the impact of Open Access publishing from invited speakers, all leaders in the movement and staying for a glass of wine and friendly discussion at the end..."