the NIH has released a policy on a data repository for human genetic data that they will establish (read the policy at Federal Register). the policy is briefly discussed today in the chronicle of higher ed, and comments on the publishing policies for the data entered into the repository, security issues for those that have donated genetic materials, and data ownership issues.
i’m interested to know how the data are going to be organized when they are deposited. what will the metadata schema look like, so that the elements entered will be able to operate between data sets? will the repository be intended for this kind of data sharing or will it be more of a data dump? the initial policy doesn’t address that specifically, so may be forthcoming in other documentation. will stay tuned…
