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Patents Corner
Biodiversity and Intellectual Property
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by Becky Mahurin
As biotechnology becomes more successful, the commercial issues increase. One of those issues is access to genetic materials, whether in Yellowstone Park, such as the thermophiles associated with the hot pools, or genetic material in undeveloped countries.
Scientists agree that biodiversity must be preserved, but preservation costs money. Where is that money going to come from? One answer is to somehow charge for the removal of biological materials, both with an up-front collection fee and later, with a share of the profits if the material leads to a product. Tied to this "system," then, is limitation of access. Whereas scientists in the past have freely collected samples of soils, vegetation and microbes for study, the new system will necessitate agreements, payments and future tracking of the genetic material to determine if it was the basis for a revenue-producing product.
Following the Convention on Biological Diversity in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, more countries have adopted policies to limit access to biological materials. In addition, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) now requires sharing of royalties with the source country if products are developed using NCI funds. The Agency for International Development (AID) is also actively supporting such up-front collection/revenue sharing agreements. Yellowstone Park now requires an application for a collection permit. This permit requires sharing of future revenues accruing to products that are derived from the collected material.
We as scientists must be sensitive to the requirements of countries and entities such as Yellowstone for access to biological materials. If you have questions or specific contract needs, please call me at 994-7868.
Becky Mahurin
Director of the Technology Transfer Office at MSU
© 2000 Montana State University-Bozeman
Discovery October 1996
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