From a radio story on NPR's Marketplace, March 28, 2007.  &

If [lab work] could be shared, [Jean-Claude Bradley, 
chemistry professor at Drexel University] says researchers 
wouldn't have to repeat failed experiments, and could save 
time. So he decided to try something new: he and his 
students at Drexel University post all of their lab 
experiments on a wiki, or website, for anyone to see. 
They are searching for chemical compounds that could fight 
malaria. Bradley says he purposely chose a disease that was 
largely being ignored by pharmaceutical companies....
The concept of sharing scientific research is so new, that 
Bradley has coined a phrase for it: open notebook science. 
But openness comes with a price: Bradley's online lab page 
has a disclaimer: any contributions made on the site are 
given over to the public domain. No lucrative patent deals, 
no blockbuster drugs....