My Journey to Open Science

"My desire to do science has never diminished. I am still driven by the same curiosity and desire to explore—to discover new things that might improve the quality of people’s lives. That is why it means so much to me to be recognized now by my peers for my discoveries and my position on open science. The Canada Gairdner Wightman Award is an extraordinary honor that gives a special meaning to my entire career. When I was asked by Cell to contribute a story, I decided the most important one is my journey to open science. It begins back in the mid-1980s, when I was a graduate student in Genetics at Harvard University. A good friend, a post-doc named Anil, also loved stories, especially stories about well-known scientists. One was about Tom Maniatis. We’d all heard of him. He’d written what was then considered the bible of molecular biology, Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, a three-volume text we simply called ‘‘Maniatis’’ (Figure 1). According to Anil, Maniatis would freely share any information or reagents with anyone who wanted them. When asked if he was worried about being scooped, Maniatis would shrug and say, ‘‘I’m okay if someone scoops me, because it means science is moving forward faster.’’ This anecdote—and Maniatis’s attitude toward sharing—has guided me in my career as a scientist. At the time, the Open Science movement did not yet exist, but Maniatis’s philosophy lies at its heart. As I see it, open science is the early sharing of information and reagents with no restrictions...."