What can come of a global health crisis? In the case of coronavirus, one positive result is an unprecedented sharing of scientific data.
Many scientific and medical publications are limited to institutions and individuals who can pay their hefty subscription prices. But the China National Knowledge Infrastructure and other organizations have created websites and platforms where scientists, researchers, and doctors are encouraged to freely share their findings related to the disease.
The hope is that by fighting globally, we’ll be able to understand COVID-19 and find ways to prevent and cure it. Valuable resources, including coronavirus gene sequences, are now freely accessible.
But there is a downside to unregulated open sharing – namely, rushed, unverified studies, or unclear information can also be posted. For instance, one research paper had to be removed after it was interpreted as a conspiracy theory.
Read on to learn more about what information has been shared on the site so far, and a few surprising positive and negative sides to this open knowledge platform.
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