JMH14@phoenix.cambridge.ac.uk (11/13/89)
There is obviously a problem as far as "hoarding" goes, and I suspect this often comes down to an underlying tension between those doing the sequencing and those who spend more time analysing sequences. Sequencers obviously want to have the chance to get as much as they can out of their data before making it available: people who are more used to analysing sequences on the other hand are liable to get impatient at the delay in the release of sequences, particularly if they have a special interest in them, or have an axe to grind (I have been guilty of this). In the final analysis, though, unless the sequencers are under contract (to whoever) to release their data within a predetermined timescale it must surely be up to them to decide when they are ready to release their results. John Hancock, Dept of Genetics, University of Cambridge, UK.