In order to contribute to the worldwide efforts against the spread of avian flu the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) has entered into an agreement with the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB) to lead a consortium that will develop a database on influenza viruses. The choice of the Swiss consortium results from a broad search for bioinformatics partners with impeccable scientific credentials, neutrality and the ability to bring significant human resources to the Initiative.

Under the agreement, SIB has contracted the Swiss biotech company SmartGene to provide services for the secure storage and analysis of data on influenza viruses. SmartGene has already constructed a database environment targeted specifically for the analysis of influenza data, accelerated by extensive experience with networking databases for other clinically relevant pathogens. “The global health research community will find that the GISAID Database provides a high standard of data and analysis tools that uniquely promotes responsible sharing of information,” said Prof. Ernest Feytmans, Director of SIB. “Our goal is to assist public health and veterinary authorities around the world to analyze human and animal influenza outbreaks, enhancing the ability of national and international health authorities to respond quickly to threats posed by these viruses.”

Switzerland is actively supporting this new partnership, which reflects the country’s tradition of offering a safe and neutral ground for global cooperative projects. The Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER) and the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) have been instrumental in securing preliminary funding allowing the SIB to proceed with the first round of developments.

The GISAID Database will be publicly accessible and its use is free of charge. GISAID Database users will be required to register, agreeing to share and credit the use of others’ data, to analyze findings jointly, publish results collaboratively, and not to assert intellectual property rights against each other over technology derived from the data. Such common access will allow the technology to be used both for research and rapid development of products such as diagnostics, antiviral drugs and vaccines.

The GISAID Database will contain genetic sequence data on influenza isolates collected around the world, thereby offering a global view of the way the virus spreads and mutates, and will also be able to take up species-specific information, epidemiological, clinical, pathological, and relevant laboratory testing data wherever available.
SIB will complement genetic sequence information with high-quality protein annotation provided by the team managing the world-renowned Swiss-Prot knowledgebase. It will also provide training and counsel to scientists from around the world who deposit their data in this common repository and contribute to analysis. “The combined expertise of SIB and SmartGene, makes them ideal partners for us,” said Peter Bogner, Director of GISAID, “and their location near the World Health Organization Headquarters in Geneva is a further plus.”

About GISAID
Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data was brought to life on August 24, 2006 by a group of leading medical researchers from around the world, after announcing the formation of a international coalition for greater transparency, to improve the sharing of influenza data. This initiative was announced in a letter published in the journal Nature. Over 70 leading scientists have signed this letter including seven Nobel laureates. GISAID’s platform spans national borders and scientific disciplines, with leaders in the fields of veterinary medicine, human medicine, bioinformatics, epidemiology and intellectual property.

Web site: gisaid.org

About SIB
The Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics is an academic not-for-profit foundation that has a long-standing tradition of producing carefully annotated databases including UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, the world’s most widely used source of information about proteins. The SIB also includes world-class research groups in the fields of proteomics, comparative genomics, molecular evolution and protein structure prediction, all of which are relevant to the analysis of influenza data. The SIB groups are hosted by their partner institutions among which the Universities of Basel, Geneva and Lausanne as well as the Federal Institutes of Technology in Lausanne and Zurich.

About SmartGene
SmartGene is a privately held Swiss biotech company that specializes in providing cutting-edge application-service suites for the analysis, archiving and networking of genetic data. SmartGene’s proprietary Integrated Database Network System (IDNS™) platform combines customizable Web and database technology with bioinformatics tools and constant online content updates. SmartGene’s services integrate steps to manage, interpret and share genetic data, rendering analytical procedures more efficient and reliable. Since its start in 1998, SmartGene has developed a worldwide customer base for its current application portfolio, addressing infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria and fungi and also applications in human genetics.

Web site: www.smartgene.com