[Genetic data sharing: a new type of capital].

Over the last three decades, various biotech companies, mostly in North America, have become experts in the production, processing and analysis of large volumes of genetic data. They have surpassed the performance of traditional academic platforms, by appropriating a new economic model: the two-sided market. Thus, by applying web 2.0 ideas, these biotech companies have made it possible for millions of users to produce and "share" data including genetic data, with each other and with third parties through a digital network rich in information and "free" services. However, in reality, data have become a means of payment for access to these networks and the use of these services. In the era of the digital economy, data sharing has become synonymous with commercial exchange and genetic data synonymous with capital.