His name is Ilaria Capua and had made available all the information on the virus of bird, sparking fierce controversy. But now the reason has been given. That's why



A wall that falls, a bar that is raised, removed an obstacle: after four years of work by a committee, the World Health Organization (WHO) has given the green light to access indiscriminately all over the world to
information on influenza pandemic preparedness. This means that when in different parts of the world there are cases of viruses such as avian influenza, or at high risk of spread and genetic mutations, all researchers interested in working on a solution can leverage the same database. In this way, then, that the progress made by a group can be used and further improved by another. Why was not possible before? No, and to do this and raise the dust that has brought trouble to the recent decision was the Italian scientist Ilaria Capua.

Director of the Department of Research and Development Institute Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (Legnaro, Padova), Ilaria Capua refused in 2006 to the restrictions imposed and put data on the virus
H5N1 avian flu, in an open network. The WHO had instead asked to deposit it into a database with restricted access.

'The sequence was downloaded thousands of times in a week,' he told the researcher to Wired.it.
'To analyze a problem and find remedies and control strategies for a disease that can move around the world makes no sense to work on isolated cells,' he continued, 'you have to put before the entire public health'.

A row against a transparent management of information were the
private interests of those who held to what has been hoping to patent at a later time and more interested in celebrities and senior researchers to put their signature under the personnel to achieve the same result. Giving free access to information, said Capua,
'Not opposed to patents and intellectual property enforcement, who may want to patent it first and then decides to share the outcome'.

The WHO is a difficult decision
'Important precedent for a pandemic disease with features, so important for all the inhabitants of the earth, and one day you may be referred if necessary', said Capua, taking to emphasize his satisfaction with the result.
'I'm very happy, in my view is a sea change and is a first step towards a more transparent management of scientific information'.


http://italianvalley.wired.it/news/2011/04/29/dati-virus-open-source.html