CAMBIA
Encyclopedia
Cambia is an independent, international non-profit organization
dedicated to democratizing innovation
and promoting change for the public good
. Through the development and dissemination of new technologies, tools, and collaborative instruments, including the Patent Lens
and Biological Open Source (BiOS)
Initiative, Cambia has sought to foster transparency, collaboration and innovation, particularly in the life sciences.
Cambia derives its name from the Spanish
verb
cambiar, to change.
, a leading molecular biologist responsible for the invention of the GUS reporter system
. Jefferson describes his vision to found a non-profit organization in Innovations, to provide more efficient and effective tools to solve the problems of agriculture and society.
In 1992, Jefferson relocated to Canberra
, Australia
, to oversee the Rockefeller Foundation
's rice
biotechnology network in Asia. During this time, Jefferson and his team visited hundreds of laboratories to help develop, improve, and apply biotechnology capabilities, particularly pertaining to rice. In addition to distributing the most effective and widely used vectors
in plant molecular biology
, the pCAMBIA series, Cambia offered scientific courses and workshops, and increasing assistance in Intellectual Property
management.
Initiative in 2005. Through an open-source biotechnology license and Material Transfer Agreement
(MTA), BiOS seeks to establish freedom to operate for innovators. BiOS was built on the back of Jefferson's discovery of the GUS reporter system
and the creation of TransBacter, a work-around for the creation of transgenic plants without using the highly patented Agrobacterium
genus.
A primary project of Cambia is the free full-text online patent search facility and knowledge resource, the Patent Lens
. Launched in 2000, the Patent Lens allows free searching of almost 10 million full-text patent documents. It is distinguished as being the only not-for-profit facility of its kind, with international coverage and integrated links to non-patent literature.
In addition to patent search, the Patent Lens also hosts a number of 'technology landscapes'. These landscapes serve as interpretation maps that analyze volumes of specialized patent, scientific, technical and business data around particular topics, creating a more navigable form. They currently include biotechnologies such as Agrobacterium, Basta
resistance, the human genome
, and the human Telomerase
gene.
In 2009, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cambia launched the Initiative for Open Innovation (IOI). The IOI is a global facility dedicated to making the world’s innovation system more transparent, inclusive, and navigable.
Employing and expanding the cyberinfrastructure
currently utilized by the Patent Lens, the IOI has declared its intention to create an open Web 2.0
platform to map innovation landscapes in areas such as neglected tropical diseases and biofuels.
. Within Australia, Cambia is registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee.
Cambia’s governance is overseen by a Board of Directors, according to its constitution.
, Australia
, at the Queensland University of Technology
, and in Canberra
, Australia
, at the NICTA (National ICT Australia) facility. Before its move to Brisbane in 2008, Cambia was located on the Black Mountain
research campus of the CSIRO. Its glasshouse facilities were housed at the Australian National University
campus.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
dedicated to democratizing innovation
Innovation
Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
and promoting change for the public good
Public good
In economics, a public good is a good that is non-rival and non-excludable. Non-rivalry means that consumption of the good by one individual does not reduce availability of the good for consumption by others; and non-excludability means that no one can be effectively excluded from using the good...
. Through the development and dissemination of new technologies, tools, and collaborative instruments, including the Patent Lens
Patent Lens
The Patent Lens is an online patent search facility and knowledge resource, provided by CAMBIA, an independent, international non-profit organization dedicated to democratizing innovation...
and Biological Open Source (BiOS)
Biological Innovation for Open Society
BiOS is an international initiative to foster innovation and freedom to operate in the biological sciences. BiOS was officially launched on 10 February 2005 by Cambia, an independent, international non-profit organization dedicated to democratizing innovation...
Initiative, Cambia has sought to foster transparency, collaboration and innovation, particularly in the life sciences.
Cambia derives its name from the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
cambiar, to change.
History
Cambia was established in 1992 by Richard Anthony JeffersonRichard Anthony Jefferson
Richard Anthony Jefferson is an American-born molecular biologist, who developed the reporter gene system GUS, a widespread molecular technique...
, a leading molecular biologist responsible for the invention of the GUS reporter system
GUS reporter system
The GUS reporter system is a reporter gene system, particularly useful in plant molecular biology. Several kinds of GUS reporter gene assay are actually available, depending on the substrate used...
. Jefferson describes his vision to found a non-profit organization in Innovations, to provide more efficient and effective tools to solve the problems of agriculture and society.
In 1992, Jefferson relocated to Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, to oversee the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
's rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
biotechnology network in Asia. During this time, Jefferson and his team visited hundreds of laboratories to help develop, improve, and apply biotechnology capabilities, particularly pertaining to rice. In addition to distributing the most effective and widely used vectors
Vector (molecular biology)
In molecular biology, a vector is a DNA molecule used as a vehicle to transfer foreign genetic material into another cell. The four major types of vectors are plasmids, viruses, cosmids, and artificial chromosomes...
in plant molecular biology
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
, the pCAMBIA series, Cambia offered scientific courses and workshops, and increasing assistance in Intellectual Property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
management.
Projects
Cambia's endeavors to freely distribute scientific tools and techniques gave rise to the Biological Open Source (BiOS)Biological Innovation for Open Society
BiOS is an international initiative to foster innovation and freedom to operate in the biological sciences. BiOS was officially launched on 10 February 2005 by Cambia, an independent, international non-profit organization dedicated to democratizing innovation...
Initiative in 2005. Through an open-source biotechnology license and Material Transfer Agreement
Material transfer agreement
A Material Transfer Agreement is a contract that governs the transfer of tangible research materials between two organizations, when the recipient intends to use it for his or her own research purposes. The MTA defines the rights of the provider and the recipient with respect to the materials and...
(MTA), BiOS seeks to establish freedom to operate for innovators. BiOS was built on the back of Jefferson's discovery of the GUS reporter system
GUS reporter system
The GUS reporter system is a reporter gene system, particularly useful in plant molecular biology. Several kinds of GUS reporter gene assay are actually available, depending on the substrate used...
and the creation of TransBacter, a work-around for the creation of transgenic plants without using the highly patented Agrobacterium
Agrobacterium
Agrobacterium is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria established by H. J. Conn that uses horizontal gene transfer to cause tumors in plants. Agrobacterium tumefaciens is the most commonly studied species in this genus...
genus.
A primary project of Cambia is the free full-text online patent search facility and knowledge resource, the Patent Lens
Patent Lens
The Patent Lens is an online patent search facility and knowledge resource, provided by CAMBIA, an independent, international non-profit organization dedicated to democratizing innovation...
. Launched in 2000, the Patent Lens allows free searching of almost 10 million full-text patent documents. It is distinguished as being the only not-for-profit facility of its kind, with international coverage and integrated links to non-patent literature.
In addition to patent search, the Patent Lens also hosts a number of 'technology landscapes'. These landscapes serve as interpretation maps that analyze volumes of specialized patent, scientific, technical and business data around particular topics, creating a more navigable form. They currently include biotechnologies such as Agrobacterium, Basta
Glufosinate
Glufosinate or its ammonium salt DL-phosphinothricin is an active ingredient in several nonselective systemic herbicides - Basta, Rely, Finale, Ignite, Challenge and Liberty. It interferes with the biosynthetic pathway of the amino acid glutamine and with ammonia detoxification.Some plants have...
resistance, the human genome
Human genome
The human genome is the genome of Homo sapiens, which is stored on 23 chromosome pairs plus the small mitochondrial DNA. 22 of the 23 chromosomes are autosomal chromosome pairs, while the remaining pair is sex-determining...
, and the human Telomerase
Telomerase
Telomerase is an enzyme that adds DNA sequence repeats to the 3' end of DNA strands in the telomere regions, which are found at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. This region of repeated nucleotide called telomeres contains non-coding DNA material and prevents constant loss of important DNA from...
gene.
In 2009, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cambia launched the Initiative for Open Innovation (IOI). The IOI is a global facility dedicated to making the world’s innovation system more transparent, inclusive, and navigable.
Employing and expanding the cyberinfrastructure
Cyberinfrastructure
United States federal research funders use the term cyberinfrastructure to describe research environments that support advanced data acquisition, data storage, data management, data integration, data mining, data visualization and other computing and information processing services distributed over...
currently utilized by the Patent Lens, the IOI has declared its intention to create an open Web 2.0
Web 2.0
The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...
platform to map innovation landscapes in areas such as neglected tropical diseases and biofuels.
Governance
Cambia is a registered Non-Governmental Organization with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsFood and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and...
. Within Australia, Cambia is registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee.
Cambia’s governance is overseen by a Board of Directors, according to its constitution.
Locations
Cambia is currently based in BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, at the Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology is an Australian university with an applied emphasis in courses and research. Based in Brisbane, it has 40,000 students, including 6,000 international students, over 4,000 staff members, and an annual budget of more than A$750 million.QUT is marketed as "A...
, and in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, at the NICTA (National ICT Australia) facility. Before its move to Brisbane in 2008, Cambia was located on the Black Mountain
Black Mountain (Australian Capital Territory)
Black Mountain is situated close to the central business district of Australia's capital city Canberra. Like all major hills in Canberra it is protected from development by the Canberra Nature Park. It is covered in native bushland and is a haven to native wildlife.With its peak at 811.987m AHD,...
research campus of the CSIRO. Its glasshouse facilities were housed at the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
campus.
See also
- Biological Innovation for Open SocietyBiological Innovation for Open SocietyBiOS is an international initiative to foster innovation and freedom to operate in the biological sciences. BiOS was officially launched on 10 February 2005 by Cambia, an independent, international non-profit organization dedicated to democratizing innovation...
- GUS reporter systemGUS reporter systemThe GUS reporter system is a reporter gene system, particularly useful in plant molecular biology. Several kinds of GUS reporter gene assay are actually available, depending on the substrate used...
- Patent LensPatent LensThe Patent Lens is an online patent search facility and knowledge resource, provided by CAMBIA, an independent, international non-profit organization dedicated to democratizing innovation...
- Richard Anthony JeffersonRichard Anthony JeffersonRichard Anthony Jefferson is an American-born molecular biologist, who developed the reporter gene system GUS, a widespread molecular technique...