Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

International regulatory changes poised to reshape access to marine genes

Nature Biotechnology volume 37, pages 357–358 (2019)Cite this article

Subjects

To the Editor — In 2014, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity’s Nagoya Protocol entered into force, creating a legal framework to regulate access to genetic resources within national jurisdictions based on prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms of benefit sharing between ‘provider’ and ‘user’ countries. Although the protocol covers all terrestrial and marine life within national jurisdictions, international waters lie outside its reach. In March of 2018 the United Nations began working to address this loophole, and the liberal access regime to marine genetic resources is changing. Here we discuss the implications for bioprospecting efforts and the biotech industry in general going forward.

Access options

Rent or Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

from$8.99

Rent or Buy

All prices are NET prices.

References

  1. 1.

    Jaspars, M. et al. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U.K. 96, 151–158 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. 2.

    Gerwick, W. H. & Moore, B. S. Chem. Biol. 19, 85–98 (2012).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. 3.

    Wynberg, R. & Laird, S. A. Trends Biotechnol. 36, 1–3 (2018).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. 4.

    Laird, S. & Wynberg, R. A fact-finding and scoping study on digital sequence information on genetic resources in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Nagoya Protocol. https://www.cbd.int/doc/c/b39f/4faf/7668900e8539215e7c7710fe/dsi-ahteg-2018-01-03-en.pdf p.60 (Convention on Biological Diversity, 2018).

  5. 5.

    Kupferschmidt, K. Biologists raise alarm over changes to biopiracy rules. Science 80, 14–15 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. 6.

    Convention on Biological Diversity. Digital sequence information on genetic resources: draft decision submitted by the chair of Working Group I. https://www.cbd.int/doc/c/1060/5367/b3ecb2f5ddea7ba9d154cc1d/cop-14-l-36-en.pdf (Convention on Biological Diversity, 2018).

  7. 7.

    Blasiak, R. et al. Mar. Policy 81, 1–8 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. 8.

    Prathapan, K. D., Pethiyagoda, R., Bawa, K. S., Raven, P. H. & Rajan, P. D. Science 360, 1405–1406 (2018).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. 9.

    Blasiak, R., Jouffray, J. B., Wabnitz, C. C., Sundström, E. & Österblom, H. Sci. Adv. 4, eaar5237 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Stockholms Universitet, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm, Sweden

    Robert Blasiak

Authors
  1. Robert Blasiak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert Blasiak.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Blasiak, R. International regulatory changes poised to reshape access to marine genes. Nat Biotechnol 37, 357–358 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-019-0087-1

Download citation

Further reading

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing