Scientists wooed to UK genome database

The Wellcome Trust is spending £150,000 on its first advertising campaign to encourage scientists to use the United Kingdom-based free human genome database Ensembl. The initiative has the backing of the government, the Royal Society and pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline.

Mike Dexter, director of the trust, which has contributed £210 million to the sequencing project and £8 million to Ensembl, said: "If we are to unlock the full potential of the human genetic map to bring health benefits for all, many more scientists must be made aware of the high-quality public data and the fact that it can be used for free."

Celera Genomics, the company that raced the public project to sequence the genome, has 40 institutional subscribers to its value-added service, paying a minimum of $450,000 (£312,520).