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OpenMTA, a paradigm shift in exchanging biological material

OpenMTA, a paradigm shift in exchanging biological material Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/synbio/article-abstract/3/1/ysy021/5231961 by Ed 'DeepDyve' Gillespie user on 16 October 2019 Synthetic Biology, 2018, 3(1): ysy021 doi: 10.1093/synbio/ysy021 Advance Access Publication Date: 5 December 2018 Synthetic Biology News OpenMTA, a paradigm shift in exchanging biological material Collaborative research requires the regular exchange of ideas, The OpenMTA covers a crucial need for synthetic biology, a knowledge and often samples and materials. Nowadays, all discipline which relies on recombining biological building types and volumes of information flow unconstrained by geo- blocks available from various community resources such as the graphical location, but the exchange of biological materials fol- iGEM registry or Addgene. The synthetic biology community lows different norms. generally adheres to principles of openness (opendefinitio- One of the limiting factors in obtaining samples from a re- n.org), but it lacked the tool needed to apply this philosophy to search institution is signing a Material Transfer Agreement the exchange of biological material. (MTA). The process is time-consuming and nonuniform, as each Interestingly, the exchange of biological material between organization has their own preferred terms and conditions. gene synthesis companies and users of synthetic DNA does Some typical terms specify the permitted use of the material, not involve the execution of an MTA because, in this case, the may forbid the distribution of derivatives, and generally pro- provider—DNA Synthesis Company—does not claim owner- hibit commercial applications. There are a handful of com- ship of the biological material they produce. While well- monly accepted MTAs available, such as the Uniform Biological resourced institutes and companies can overcome the need Material Transfer Agreement (UBMTA) (ott.nih.gov/resources). for MTAs by DNA synthesis, such a strategy is cost prohibitive Even though UBMTA provides standard terms, it still prohibits for many start-ups and young group leaders. As the cost of commercial uses and redistribution of derivatives. This particu- synthetic DNA decreases, it may reach the point where it larly hinders the commercialization of ideas, even in cases becomes cheaper to synthesize DNA molecules than it is to where researchers and students want to pursue inventions they store them. In that case, the free exchange in the synthetic bi- themselves developed. ology community may become less dependent on the MTA The recently published OpenMTA (openmta.org) addresses regulating the transfer of DNA molecule and more dependent the limitations of existing MTAs. It intends to facilitate the ex- on the wide adoption of open copyright licenses to protect change of material by providing flexibility to researchers and DNA or protein sequences (creativecommons.org). Until then, institutions on how their material can be shared, while still OpenMTA could be an important legal tool enabling synthetic addressing security and legal concerns that traditional MTAs biologists to address real-world problems and have a positive cover (1). The development of the OpenMTA was a collaborative contribution to society. effort between the BioBricks Foundation and the OpenPlant Synthetic Biology Research Centre. The goal of the initiative Reference was to create a legal framework that can be used in an interna- 1. Kahl,L., Molloy,J., Patron,N., Matthewman,C., Haseloff,J., tional context, allowing the recipient to use the material for any Grewal,D., Johnson,R. and Endy,D. (2018) Opening options for lawful purpose and permitting redistribution. Each OpenMTA material transfer. Nat. Biotechnol., 36, 923–927. includes a master agreement that cannot be edited and an implementing letter that can be customized to allow users to 1,2, Konstantinos Vavitsas * agree on terms such as attribution, whether further transfers must be reported back to the originator, and payment of proc- Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, essing fees suitable for a specific transaction. Research organi- The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia zations can review and become signatories of the Master CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform, GPO Box Agreement in order to give their employees this new option. 2583, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia Importantly, institutions that adopt the Master Agreement do not have to use it for all transfers and can customize based on *Corresponding author: E-mail: k.vavitsas@uq.edu.au the specific material being transferred. V The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Synthetic Biology Oxford University Press

OpenMTA, a paradigm shift in exchanging biological material

Synthetic Biology , Volume 3 (1) – Jan 1, 2018

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References (2)

Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press.
eISSN
2397-7000
DOI
10.1093/synbio/ysy021
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/synbio/article-abstract/3/1/ysy021/5231961 by Ed 'DeepDyve' Gillespie user on 16 October 2019 Synthetic Biology, 2018, 3(1): ysy021 doi: 10.1093/synbio/ysy021 Advance Access Publication Date: 5 December 2018 Synthetic Biology News OpenMTA, a paradigm shift in exchanging biological material Collaborative research requires the regular exchange of ideas, The OpenMTA covers a crucial need for synthetic biology, a knowledge and often samples and materials. Nowadays, all discipline which relies on recombining biological building types and volumes of information flow unconstrained by geo- blocks available from various community resources such as the graphical location, but the exchange of biological materials fol- iGEM registry or Addgene. The synthetic biology community lows different norms. generally adheres to principles of openness (opendefinitio- One of the limiting factors in obtaining samples from a re- n.org), but it lacked the tool needed to apply this philosophy to search institution is signing a Material Transfer Agreement the exchange of biological material. (MTA). The process is time-consuming and nonuniform, as each Interestingly, the exchange of biological material between organization has their own preferred terms and conditions. gene synthesis companies and users of synthetic DNA does Some typical terms specify the permitted use of the material, not involve the execution of an MTA because, in this case, the may forbid the distribution of derivatives, and generally pro- provider—DNA Synthesis Company—does not claim owner- hibit commercial applications. There are a handful of com- ship of the biological material they produce. While well- monly accepted MTAs available, such as the Uniform Biological resourced institutes and companies can overcome the need Material Transfer Agreement (UBMTA) (ott.nih.gov/resources). for MTAs by DNA synthesis, such a strategy is cost prohibitive Even though UBMTA provides standard terms, it still prohibits for many start-ups and young group leaders. As the cost of commercial uses and redistribution of derivatives. This particu- synthetic DNA decreases, it may reach the point where it larly hinders the commercialization of ideas, even in cases becomes cheaper to synthesize DNA molecules than it is to where researchers and students want to pursue inventions they store them. In that case, the free exchange in the synthetic bi- themselves developed. ology community may become less dependent on the MTA The recently published OpenMTA (openmta.org) addresses regulating the transfer of DNA molecule and more dependent the limitations of existing MTAs. It intends to facilitate the ex- on the wide adoption of open copyright licenses to protect change of material by providing flexibility to researchers and DNA or protein sequences (creativecommons.org). Until then, institutions on how their material can be shared, while still OpenMTA could be an important legal tool enabling synthetic addressing security and legal concerns that traditional MTAs biologists to address real-world problems and have a positive cover (1). The development of the OpenMTA was a collaborative contribution to society. effort between the BioBricks Foundation and the OpenPlant Synthetic Biology Research Centre. The goal of the initiative Reference was to create a legal framework that can be used in an interna- 1. Kahl,L., Molloy,J., Patron,N., Matthewman,C., Haseloff,J., tional context, allowing the recipient to use the material for any Grewal,D., Johnson,R. and Endy,D. (2018) Opening options for lawful purpose and permitting redistribution. Each OpenMTA material transfer. Nat. Biotechnol., 36, 923–927. includes a master agreement that cannot be edited and an implementing letter that can be customized to allow users to 1,2, Konstantinos Vavitsas * agree on terms such as attribution, whether further transfers must be reported back to the originator, and payment of proc- Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, essing fees suitable for a specific transaction. Research organi- The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia zations can review and become signatories of the Master CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform, GPO Box Agreement in order to give their employees this new option. 2583, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia Importantly, institutions that adopt the Master Agreement do not have to use it for all transfers and can customize based on *Corresponding author: E-mail: k.vavitsas@uq.edu.au the specific material being transferred. V The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Journal

Synthetic BiologyOxford University Press

Published: Jan 1, 2018

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