Sharing what we know vigorously might is the only we can move our society forward – patent lawyers will only make the ‘commons’ impoverished while benefiting a small percentage of the population. People have to be able to benefit from what they produce and I believe the Creative Commons is a great solution to this dilemma.

I’ve ranted before about how bacteria are outsmarting us because they are more ‘collaborative’ with their information. I also realize our society is much more complex than that of a colony of Ecoli – however the question remains – how can we become more like Ecoli with it’s amazing adaptability and resilience?

Having spent some time in the pharmaceutical industry myself I know how territorial they are about their IP (intellectual property). Long, and often very expensive, research and development paths lead to the discovery of new drugs. However the pharmaceutical industry is one of of the most profitable because of the high cost they can demand for the successful new treatments. Pointing at no one in particular as I say it – there is a lot of unnecessary greed practiced in this industry. Some of the companies should look more closely at their vision statements to see if they reflect the well-being of investors bank accounts or the health of the human species (these are not necessarily mutually exclusive).

What I am saying is that the industry has the potential for achieving a great deal of good for our planet beyond simply increasing its share value. I don’t think it is tapping into that potential right now.

Farmvita.net is bringing the concept of open source into the field of pharmaceuticals and what a welcome sight. This article is a foretaste of some thing great a truly collaborative approach toward bringing much needed health care to all levels of society.