Genomic data: public, private or ‘common’? A historical perspective

The growth of genomics has involved recurring disputes over whether genomic data should be treated as a public, private or common good. But what is at stake in those disputes? Who benefits from different forms of ownership of genomic data?

Prof Steven Sturdy’s lecture will examine how and why the boundaries between public and private ownership of genomic data have shifted over the past forty years, including the changing justifications that have been put forward for different forms of ownership. In so doing, it will highlight changes that have taken place in the social organisation and justification of biomedical research more generally.