
	Where results make sense

Topic: Bioprospecting

Related Topics

List of environment topics

In the News (Tue 29 Dec 09)

Northern Trust

Marvin Harrison

Peter Chernin

Gary Locke

Match Play

Penelope Cruz

Mickey Rourke

AR Rahman

Danny Boyle

Hugh Jackman

	Bioprospecting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		In short, bioprospecting has to be allowed by the biodiversity-rich country and must benefit it (and the communities that traditionally use these resources) as well as the corporations (usually from developed countries) or universities collecting the bioresource.
		Bioprospecting may be considered as biopiracy when these principles are not respected.
		Some even argue bilateral agreements of bioprospecting between a country or a community and a corporation are a sort of juridical validation of biopiracy toward traditional communities whose values and rights are not considered and respected.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Bioprospecting (296 words)

	Regulating Bioprospecting: Institutions for Drug Research, Access and Benefit-Sharing
		Bioprospecting, or the search for useful biochemical compounds and genes in nature, has been the focus of international negotiations for more than a decade, yet the debate on the terms for access to genetic resources, traditional knowledge and benefit-sharing is far from settled.
		This analysis is substantiated by examples of bioprospecting collaborations in several countries and a critique of the institutional and contractual factors that led to their success or failure.
		This is one of the first books to address the contractual complexities of bioprospecting for drug research and is thus a key text for policy makers, practitioners and scholars in the areas of law, economics, ethnobotany, anthropology and environmental sciences.
	www.unu.edu /unupress/2005/regulatingbioprospecting.html (446 words)

	Bioprospecting
		Bioprospecting is the search for new chemicals in living things that will have some medical or commercial use.
		Experts say that Australia has huge potential for bioprospecting because it is one of the world's most biodiverse nations.
		The Centre has had some very encouraging results and recently patented a new substance from a common species of Australian bull ant that could one day become an effective weapon against golden staph: just one of a number of potentially lethal organisms against which current antibiotics are relatively ineffective.
	www.amonline.net.au /factsheets/bioprospecting.htm (341 words)

	Biodiversity Encyclopedia Article, Information, History and Biography @ NaturalResearch.org (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-03)
		Under these new rules, it is expected that bioprospecting or collection of natural products has to be allowed by the biodiversity-rich country, in exchange for a share of the benefits.
		The Convention on Biodiversity spirit implies a prior informed consent between the source country and the collector, to establish which resource will be used and for what, and to settle on a fair agreement on benefit sharing.
		Bioprospecting can become a type of biopiracy when those principles are not respected.
	www.naturalresearch.org /encyclopedia/Biodiversity (3830 words)

	Clear rules needed to govern deep sea bioprospecting: UNU
		Known as "extremophiles," the genetic make-up of organisms of the deep that live in extreme conditions of pressure, temperature and toxicity is drawing enormous interest from scientists and companies bioprospecting for possible pharmaceutical or industrial applications.
		Deep sea expeditions are increasingly frequent, their focus shifting from geological and geophysical study to ecological, biological, physiological and bioprospecting, the report says.
		Bioprospecting in the seabed within territorial limits is currently regulated by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which determines states' jurisdiction, rights and obligations in the oceans, as well as in the Convention on Biological Diversity, which governs access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing.
	www.eurekalert.org /pub_releases/2005-06/unu-crn060105.php (1246 words)

	NPS: Nature & Science » Benefit-Sharing in the National Parks
		In many cases, bioprospecting is a search for useful organic compounds in microorganisms, plants, and fungi that grow in extreme environments, such as rainforests, deserts, and hot springs.
		Bioprospecting began when prehistoric people noticed that one plant root tasted better than another, or that some plants could be used as medicines.
		Most of the potential bioprospecting in national parks is currently related to the study of microorganisms.
	www.nature.nps.gov /benefitssharing/whatis.htm (1077 words)

	[No title]
		Bioprospecting as an approach to conservation of biologically rich areas in developing countries warrants consideration as a tool for fostering environmentally sustainable development.
		To support bioprospecting ventures, all the players USAID and other donors, NGOs, international enterprises and researchers, and developing-country governments can work together to þ Help reform government policies and build national capacity to promote, support, and negotiate bioprospecting ventures and research to make the most of their environmental and eco- nomic benefits.
		Local communities and the protected areas themselves have a justifiable claim on a share of bioprospecting benefits to compensate for alternative uses of ecosystems and to ensure sustainable ecosystem protection and management.
	www.usaid.gov /pubs/usaid_eval/ascii/pnaby200.txt (1204 words)

	Scoop: Bioprospecting discussion paper released
		An improvement in the bioprospecting policy framework will increase New Zealand's ability to take advantage of bioprospecting opportunities, while ensuring that happens in a way that gives the public confidence that the appropriate checks and balances are in place.
		Bioprospecting is one type of biotechnology research that falls under the biotechnology strategy.
		Policy work on bioprospecting is helping New Zealand to meet our obligations under the Convention, which lays down a number of principles and goals in relation to access and benefit sharing.
	www.scoop.co.nz /stories/PA0211/S00382.htm (1986 words)

	Regulate, but don't alienate bioprospecting - The Honolulu Advertiser - Hawaii's Newspaper
		A legislative committee on economic development last week struck that provision from a bill calling for restrictions on bioprospecting, which, in a nutshell, is the scientific search for commercially valuable and exploitable organisms.
		The benefits of bioprospecting outweigh the costs, regardless of the myths that have been perpetuated over this age-old practice.
		The controversy erupted last year when it was discovered that the University of Hawai'i had struck a deal with the San Diego-based Diversa Corp. to provide the company with sludge taken near a volcano in exchange for an interest in any of Diversa's discoveries.
	the.honoluluadvertiser.com /article/2004/Mar/29/op/op01a.html (741 words)

	Questions and Answers \| Bioprospecting Review \| Bioprospecting
		Bioprospecting is the examination of biological resources (for example, plants, animals, micro-organisms) for features that may be of value for commercial development.
		An improvement in the bioprospecting policy framework will increase New Zealand's ability to take advantage of bioprospecting opportunities, while giving the public confidence that the appropriate checks and balances are in place.
		Bioprospecting is one example of biotechnology, which with suitable safeguards for environmental, social and cultural values, has the potential to create a wide range of benefits for New Zealand.
	med.govt.nz /ers/nat-res/bioprospecting/review/bioprospecting-qa.html (1397 words)

	ScienceDaily: Undiscovered Biological Diversity: A Symposium On Bioprospecting (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-03)
		With interest in bioprospecting growing alongside a worldwide interest in species preservation, Colwell volunteered to bring together speakers to address the topic at the ASM meeting.
		Bioprospecting also supports conservation of cultural diversity, Colwell said, because indigenous people reveal what resources are useful.
		Biotechnology companies are also getting involved in bioprospecting to find novel molecules for medical applications or as tools for basic research.
	www.sciencedaily.com /releases/1999/05/990531071655.htm (1381 words)

	"Bioprospecting" Could Fuel Economic Incentives For Biological Conservation
		Bioprospecting involves the search for and exploitation of valuable chemical compounds and genetic material found in wild organisms.
		"The idea was that these countries could lease bioprospecting rights to research and development companies, thus both creating income and preserving their assets," Small said.
		Building on the foundation laid by the earlier paper, Small and Rausser revamped the model to include a more realistic description of bioprospecting that includes the ability to partition collections of potential research leads into categories of greater and lesser potential.
	www.columbia.edu /cu/pr/00/02/bioProspecting.html (962 words)

	Park Service authorizes bioprospecting (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-03)
		It will proceed even as a pioneering bioprospecting deal in Yellowstone National Park is held up by a lawsuit, according to Michael Soukup, associate director for natural resources stewardship and science for the Park Service.
		And long before the word "bioprospecting" was coined with the implication of big money to be made, penicillin was derived from fungus, and aspirin from tree bark.
		Most organisms found by bioprospecting are not useful, and, on average, it takes a pharmaceutical company 10 years and $300 million to transform a natural product into a marketable drug.
	www.bouldernews.com /news/statewest/23bbiop.html (872 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-03)
		Bilateral bioprospecting agreements are sanctioned by the multilateral Convention on Biological Diversity.
		In the vast majority of cases, however, commercial bioprospecting agreements cannot be effectively monitored or enforced by source communities, countries, or by the Convention, and amount to little more than "legalized" bio-piracy.
		Under the vast majority of current bioprospecting agreements, when indigenous peoples share information or genetic materials they effectively lose control over such resources, regardless of whether or not they are compensated.
	www.etcgroup.org /article.asp?newsid=212 (5488 words)

	BBSR Currents - Fall 2001 - Bioprospecting (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-03)
		This new bioprospecting program applies the tools of genomics and genetic engineering to the task of searching for bioactive molecules that have potential uses in the medical and industrial worlds.
		Sea sponges are ideal candidates for bioprospecting because each can live in symbiosis with dozens of different species of bacteria.
		In the past, marine natural products chemists did their bioprospecting by homogenizing large quantities of a particular organism, for example a sponge, in organic solvents such as methanol or hexane.
	www.bbsr.edu /pubs/cf01/cf01biopros/cf01biopros.html (844 words)

	bioprospecting (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-03)
		Bioprospecting causes an incentive to conserve the rainforest and its biodiversity
		Bioprospecting's results can cure illness and increase survivability to people worldwide.
		It produces pride in indigenous knowledge and bioprospecting has financial sustainability; unlike logging, revenues from bioprospecting continue because the resource is not destroyed.
	www.calvin.edu /~rlc2/benefits.htm (92 words)

	Africa (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-03)
		In the summer of 1999, the Global Bioscience Development Institute (GBDI) invited WFED to design and implement bioprospecting seminars for a series of training courses in Africa.
		This was the second course on techniques for negotiating bioprospecting agreements that WFED taught in Africa, with a specialized focus on technical legal issues.
		WFED was invited to Cape Town, South Africa, in April 2000, to lead special sessions on bioprospecting conservation practices and intellectual property rights issues at the invitation of South Africa's Agricultural Research Council (ARC).
	www.wfed.org /projects/africa (906 words)

	‘SUSTAINABLE BIOPROSPECTING’ IN BIODIVERSE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES SUBJECT OF EXPERT PANEL AT HEADQUARTERS, 19 APRIL
		The book aims to contribute to this process by defining optimal property rights structures and institutional mechanisms for regulating bioprospecting for drug research in developing countries that can cater simultaneously to issues of fair and equitable distribution of benefits, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, while promoting optimal research and development into genetic resources.
		Gehl Sampath’s analysis reveals the market imperfections that shape current international trade in valuable genetic resources, and points out the dangers of a simplistic view of bioprospecting as a “one shot” contract between the pharmaceutical firm, the national access authority, and the local and indigenous communities.
		“In this context, bioprospecting contracts that provide an environment for mutually beneficial exchange with fair distribution of benefits can only be enabled by well defined property rights propped up by an enabling contractual environment, enforceable in a transparent and accountable regulatory framework”, she says.
	www.un.org /News/Press/docs/2005/unu205.doc.htm (840 words)

	Wired News: Struggle Over (Green) Gold Rush
		"National regulations on bioprospecting should be more attuned to the drug R&D processes, the contributions of the resources -- that is, the actual contribution of traditional medicinal knowledge to drug research programs -- and have to be enforceable," said Gehl Sampath.
		"One of the major reasons why companies have been discouraged from investing in the past is the legal uncertainty caused by lack of regulatory frameworks on bioprospecting at the national levels, or frameworks that recognize rights on traditional medicinal knowledge and (give) access in an extremely bureaucratic way," said Gehl Sampath.
		Of course, it's important to sort out the bioprospecting frameworks for the sake of fairness, but also because it gives a hard financial incentive to conserve the environment.
	www.wired.com /news/medtech/0,1286,67244,00.html?tw=rss.TEK (921 words)

	Bioprospecting in Panama
		This trove of new species makes Coiba and the surrounding region valuable for bioprospecting, which is the search for new chemicals in living things that have medicinal or commercial applications.
		Despite all of these heartening and promising advances in medicinal knowledge, bioprospecting faces challeneges with issues of ownership and ultimate benefit remain.
		The greatest hope for Coiba’s continued preservation is the emergent knowledge and recognition from scientific research that many endemic species will contain life-saving compounds that could be processed into profitable drugs.
	news.mongabay.com /2005/0420-tina_butler.html (1505 words)

	Who will own deep-sea life? \| csmonitor.com
		The vast majority of marine bioprospecting these days is done in shallower waters within a country's 200-mile limit, notes Sam Johnston, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies of United Nations University, based in Japan.
		"The real prospects for bioprospecting in the deep oceans, especially in the near- and medium-term, are fairly low," he says.
		Yet the UN's Dr. Johnston notes that in addition to costs, the lack of clear rules governing deep-sea bioprospecting is preventing many companies from taking the plunge - delaying the potential benefits experts envision for building new marine biological compounds into medicine, farming, industry, environmental clean-up, and cosmetics.
	www.csmonitor.com /2005/0616/p13s01-sten.html (1331 words)

	Bioprospecting in New Zealand Seminar \| Bioprospecting Review \| Bioprospecting
		The Ministry of Economic Development hosted a seminar to consider issues relevant to bioprospecting in New Zealand.
		The Ministry released a discussion paper on bioprospecting and invited submissions from interested parties.
		The seminar provided an opportunity to learn more about the issues and was a forum for group discussion.
	www.med.govt.nz /ers/nat-res/bioprospecting/review/seminar-20030221 (332 words)

	Bioprospecting -
		Japan spends almost a billion dollars a year, 80% of which comes from the private sector.
		Other countries spend far less but the search for new compounds, marine bioprospecting, is big business and is very likely to increase.
		Sequencing of the total genomes of marine organisms is a rapidly advancing yet new area of bioprospecting research.
	www.oceansatlas.org /cds_static/en/bioprospecting__en_18457_all_1.html (315 words)

	Indigenous Knowledge and Bioprospecting Conference (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-03)
		It is hoped that the dialogue established at this conference will stimulate focus on important roles that Indigenous Peoples have in contributing to the formulation of our civilization and the relationships that underpin sustainable use of technological capacities.
		This conference, Indigenous Knowledge and Bioprospecting, will provide a forum where Indigenous peoples, scientists, and lawmakers will consult about this situation.
		The conference will focus on discussing issues associated with the development of positive resources and potential pathways of social and economic development for Indigenous communities and the potential of their own medical knowledge.
	laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au /~cjone005/index_conference.htm (855 words)

Try your search on: Qwika (all wikis)