The fact is that proprietary databases don't work for such basic and broadly needed information as the sequence of the human genome.

In order to protect the market value of a proprietary database, the owner must prohibit redistribution of the contents - otherwise, the information would quickly leak out and be widely known.

Our work on C. elegans emphasized the benefits of sharing large amounts of information. We took a global approach to discover the mechanisms that led to the development of the worm.

Whilst worthy in themselves, applications shouldn't be the only way to drive basic research.

What is the purpose of being human and alive without doing new things?

Eventually we'll be able to sequence the human genome and replicate how nature did intelligence in a carbon-based system.