The OpenMTA provides a new pathway for open exchange of DNA components - the basic building blocks for new engineering approaches in biology
- Jim Haseloff
The OpenMTA is a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) designed to foster a spirit of openness, sharing and innovation in global biotechnology. MTAs provide the legal frameworks within which research organisations lay down terms and conditions for sharing their materials - everything from DNA to plant seeds to patient samples.
Use of the OpenMTA allows redistribution and commercial use of materials, while respecting the rights of creators and promoting safe practice and responsible research. The new standardised framework also eases the administrative burden for technology transfer offices, negating the need to negotiate unique terms for individual transfers of widely-used material.
The OpenMTA launched with a commentary published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. It provides a new way to openly exchange low level “nuts and bolts” components for biological research and engineering, complementing existing, more restrictive arrangements for material transfer.
The OpenMTA was developed through a collaboration, led by the San Francisco-based BioBricks Foundation and UK-based OpenPlant Synthetic Biology Research Centre. OpenPlant is a joint initiative between the University of Cambridge, John Innes Centre and the Earlham Institute, which aims to develop open technologies and responsible innovations for industrial biotechnology sustainabile agriculture.
Image: DNA
Credit: Geralt
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge