Some of the world’s biggest drug companies are finding that their genetic research is worth more to them if they give it away.

Novartis has helped uncover which of the 20,000 genes identified by the Human Genome Project are likely to be associated with diabetes. It is making it available for free on the Web.

Pfizer has promised to make available for free a swath of genetic information emerging from a three-year collaboration with the National Institutes of Health.