Lucrative biopiracy, or how the world’s biodiversity is being stolen

różnorodność biologiczna

There are still substances and mechanisms hidden in nature, with the help of which modern science and industry could be revolutionized. Just who owns them? Seventeen countries of the world concentrate 70 percent of the world’s biodiversity. of global biodiversity, but the billion-dollar profits from it are primarily reaped by giant corporations that exploit digital DNA sequences. In the age of artificial intelligence, biopiracy is becoming a bone of contention between the technologically advanced north and the poor but naturally vibrant south of the globe.

Whose biodiversity is it?

For centuries, countries with the most abundant deposits of natural resources have been getting rich from their extraction. Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Canada are the world’s economic powers that dictate the terms of the global economy. Meanwhile, the countries with the highest biodiversity are not the richest at all. GDP per capita in Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador ranges from 6,500 to 10,000. dollars. on an annual basis, so it is more than twice the size of Poland’s.

Decades ago, it took at least a research expedition to the heart of the tropics to make a breakthrough discovery based on a unique single-celled organism from the Amazon jungle. Today, modern technology makes it possible to transfer and use the genetic data of plants, animals and microorganisms electronically. There are databases of Digital Sequencing Information (DSI, from Digital Sequencing Information) on the Web, which are used by scientists looking for new drugs or plastics. No one pays for access to them, the profits from discoveries are not shared by anyone.

The economic value of natural wealth

Examples of commercial exploitation of biodiversity are increasing every decade. During the recent Covid-19 pandemic, PCR test manufacturers made billions of dollars thanks to heat-resistant enzymes discovered in Thermus aquaticus bacteria from Yellowstone Park in the United States. It was thanks to these enzymes that the polymerase chain reaction was developed, making it possible to detect DNA or RNA in very small samples.

Vincristine is a drug commonly used in cancer therapy, which was extracted from the pinkcataranth (Catharanthus roseus), which grows in Madagascar. In 2022. It brought in $85 million. profits, which are projected to nearly double by 2031. Even $105 million. was worth in 2023. market for Captopril, a hypertension drug extracted from the venom of the Brazilian viper,Bothrops jararaca.

Bacteria Arthrospira platensisdiscovered in highly alkaline African lakes have already found use in the production of supplements and drugs with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties, and are now being considered for use in green energy production. Microorganisms discovered in the Austrian Alps and the Arctic, on the other hand, are expected to prove a breakthrough in recycling plastics such as polyethylene.

Biodiversity, much of it as yet undiscovered, has enormous commercial potential. On the one hand, it is a great opportunity for medical and technological progress, on the other, a source of ethical controversy. Why shouldn’t countries like Ecuador or Peru profit from their rich biosphere?

How to fight biopiracy?

The need to protect the digital sequence information of genetic resources was already discussed at the 2016 Conference on Biological Diversity. in Cancun, Mexico (COP13). Talks continued at the COP15 summit in Montreal in 2022. At that time, Decision 15/9 was taken, which marked the need to find a solution to the existing conflict of interest. According to the authors of the decision, such a solution should be efficient, feasible, practical, generate more benefits than costs, and not create obstacles to further research and innovation. In a word, so ideal as to be unrealistic.

Among other things, the document states. That the DSIs made available should indicate the geographic source, and that the monetary and non-monetary benefits associated with their use were to be earmarked for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Meanwhile, in 2021. In the scientific journal The Scientific World Journal published a paper comparing the modern hunt for new genetic material to the gold rush of two hundred years ago. The authors of the article were researchers from Sri Lanka, who cited 12 examples of biopiracy related to the commercial exploitation of natural resources from particular countries by other countries, primarily the United States and Japan. The procedure was openly called theft, and the list of stolen plants included. turmeric, Indian honeycomb and Brazilian rubber tree.

Without waiting for the results of international summits, independent organizations have begun to tackle biopiracy. One of them is the France Libertés Foundation, founded by Danielle Mittterand and dedicated to spreading knowledge and awareness of alternatives to the appropriation of biological diversity and the traditional knowledge of local societies.

A more practical approach is being promoted by the ambitious British start-up Basecamp Research. Its representatives are using artificial intelligence to identify commercially prospective molecules from samples of genetic material collected in 19 countries around the world, including. Scotland, Iceland and Costa Rica. The genetic sequence information generated is made available through a special system that involves paying royalties if it contributes to a commercial discovery. The funds raised in this way are transferred to the place where the genetic material originated.

Ahead of the COP16 summit in Colombia

Colombia is one of the world’s richest natural countries. The flora and fauna here account for as much as 10 percent of global biodiversity. And it is there, in the city of Cali, from October 21 to November 1 this year. will be held the 16th. Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, popularly known as COP16. One of the main tasks of the summit is to finalize and implement a multilateral mechanism on fair and equitable sharing of profits from the use of digital sequences of genetic resources.

An interesting proposal for a system that would enable DSI sharing was presented in the journal Nature an international team of researchers from the DSI Network group. According to him, a multilateral fund should be created combining fixed annual fees at the national level, royalties from patents, micro-fees, voluntary contributions and innovative financial tools. The funds gained in this way would be used to support research and build infrastructure for monitoring, protecting biodiversity and generating more DSIs, which are today the cornerstone of scientific development.

However, critics point out that it will be difficult to reach an agreement between northern countries, calling for biodiversity protection, and southern countries, which want to use the resources they have to support their economic development. Creating an international system for DSI protection is a Herculean challenge that will cost big bucks – and it’s unclear who would put up the money. Finally, the resolutions and agreements reached at COP summits do not have a binding legal character, as the example of the Paris Agreement emphatically demonstrates. Implementation of the adopted goals will depend solely on the goodwill of decision-makers and business, and this is unfortunately too often lacking in environmental and ethical issues.

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