PUTIN: GENETIC RESOURCES DATABASE TO BE ESTABLISHED SOON

NOVOSIBIRSK, AUGUST 11 /SRNA/ - A decision has been made to establish Russia’s national database of the genetic resources of living organisms, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Council for Science and Education.

“All data available to Russia on the genetic resources of animals, plants and microorganisms will be consolidated into a national database of genetic information,” Putin said, TASS reported.

He said that the database is expected to receive around 10 petabytes of data annually, equivalent to approximately five trillion pages of printed text.

According to him, the database will help future researchers, biologists and students from Russia and other countries study living organisms and serve as a foundation for further development in biology and related sciences.

“None of the decisions in this area should in any way create unnecessary monopolies or make it more difficult for researchers to access available materials or maintain scientific cooperation and collaboration with colleagues from other countries,” Putin said.