As any reader of Ben Goldacre’s blog and books will know, open data is the big debate. And the bigger the diagnostic or therapeutic implications of the data concerned, the bigger need to keep it open (or closed, depending on your proclivities). Genes and genetic studies have long been touted as the final frontier for diagnostics, and as such, a field in dire need of open data. The DNA Digest has initiated an interesting competition (named, quite boringly, I must say, as “twitter competition”: they really do not want any ambiguity here!) to promote the use of tools and mechanisms that promote open data.
The competition is basically “tweet for data sharing”. The team will pick the best tweeter and contact them directly to award them a 50$ voucher. This not only promotes open data, tools that encourage open data efforts, but also gets DNA Digest a bunch of targeted followers. It is win-win all around.
So if you are interested in genetics, in open data, in twitter, or a 50$ voucher, check this out:
Scepticemia 
“Genes and genetic studies have long been touted as the final frontier for diagnostics”, while the existing developments in the field of genetic engineering are pretty hopeful for life threatening diseases as cancer or AIDS, what really should also be one of the parameters to judge the best tweet in #dnadigest is how open data reflects upon the threats vis-a-vis benefits of GMC or GMF (Genetically modified food) such as the Frankenfish!
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