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Making marine biotechnology work for people and nature

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 7, pages 482–485 (2023)Cite this article

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Transforming the rapidly growing ocean economy into a ‘blue economy’ based on principles of sustainability, equity and inclusivity is crucial. We contend that marine biotechnology is not on this trajectory and that a more holistic approach for people and nature is needed to bring marine biotechnology into the blue economy.

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Fig. 1: Commercialization of marine genetic resources.

a, R Kawka/Alamy Stock Photo; b, Lori Johnston, NOAA, public domain; c, Pauline Walsh Jacobson, CCBY 4.0; d, CC0 public domain.

Fig. 2: Marine biotechnology and conservation.

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Acknowledgements

R.B., A.P. and E.Z. are funded by FORMAS, project number 2020-01048. A.P. is funded by FORMAS, project number 2019-01220.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Robert Blasiak, Jean-Baptiste Jouffray, Peter Søgaard Jørgensen, Agnes Pranindita, Erik Zhivkoplias & Henrik Österblom

  2. Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Robert Blasiak & Henrik Österblom

  3. SpeSeas, D’Abadie, Trinidad and Tobago

    Diva J. Amon

  4. Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Diva J. Amon

  5. National Center for Scientific Research, PSL Université Paris, CRIOBE, CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Paris, France

    Joachim Claudet

  6. Research Platform Governance of Digital Practices, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Paul Dunshirn

  7. The Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere Academy Program, Royal Swedish Academy of Science, Stockholm, Sweden

    Peter Søgaard Jørgensen

  8. Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Agnes Pranindita

  9. Stanford Centre for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Colette C. C. Wabnitz

  10. Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Colette C. C. Wabnitz

  11. South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies, Maldonado, Uruguay

    Henrik Österblom

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  1. Robert Blasiak
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  2. Jean-Baptiste Jouffray
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  3. Diva J. Amon
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  4. Joachim Claudet
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  8. Colette C. C. Wabnitz
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  9. Erik Zhivkoplias
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  10. Henrik Österblom
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert Blasiak.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary methods for identifying patent sequences from marine species and IUCN Red List classification

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Blasiak, R., Jouffray, JB., Amon, D.J. et al. Making marine biotechnology work for people and nature. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 482–485 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01976-9

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