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Database (2009) Vol. 2009:bap017; doi:10.1093/database/bap017 published on October 23, 2009
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© The Author(s) 2009. Published by Oxford University Press.
This is Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Models for financial sustainability of biological databases and resources

Christina Chandras1, Thomas Weaver2, Michael Zouberakis1, Damian Smedley3, Klaus Schughart4, Nadia Rosenthal5, John M. Hancock6, George Kollias1, Paul N. Schofield7 and Vassilis Aidinis1,*

1Institute of Immunology, Biomedical Sciences Research Center Alexander Fleming, 34 Fleming Street, 16672 Athens, Greece, 2MRC Mary Lyon Centre, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RD, 3European Bioinformatics Institute, EMBL, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SD, UK, 4Experimental Mouse Genetics, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research & University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Inhoffenstrabe 7, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany, 5EMBL-Monterotondo Outstation, Via Ramarini 32, 00015 Monterotondo-Scalo (RM), Italy, 6Bioinformatics Group, MRC Harwell, Harwell, Oxfordshire, OX11 0RD and 7Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK

*Corresponding author: Tel: +30 210 9654382; Fax: +30 210 9654210; Email: v.aidinis{at}fleming.gr Correspondence may also be addressed to Paul N. Schofield. Tel: +44 1223 333878; Fax: +44 1223 333840; Email: ps{at}mole.bio.cam.ac.uk


  Abstract

Following the technological advances that have enabled genome-wide analysis in most model organisms over the last decade, there has been unprecedented growth in genomic and post-genomic science with concomitant generation of an exponentially increasing volume of data and material resources. As a result, numerous repositories have been created to store and archive data, organisms and material, which are of substantial value to the whole community. Sustained access, facilitating re-use of these resources, is essential, not only for validation, but for re-analysis, testing of new hypotheses and developing new technologies/platforms. A common challenge for most data resources and biological repositories today is finding financial support for maintenance and development to best serve the scientific community. In this study we examine the problems that currently confront the data and resource infrastructure underlying the biomedical sciences. We discuss the financial sustainability issues and potential business models that could be adopted by biological resources and consider long term preservation issues within the context of mouse functional genomics efforts in Europe.

Received July 24, 2009; Revised September 2, 2009; Accepted September 16, 2009


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