Biopiracy (also known as scientific colonialism) is the unauthorized appropriation of knowledge and genetic resources of farming and indigenous communities by individuals or institutions seeking exclusive monopoly control through patents or intellectual property.[1] While bioprospecting is the act of exploring natural resources for undiscovered chemical compounds with medicinal or anti-microbial properties, commercial success from bioprospecting leads to the company's attempt at protecting their intellectual property rights on indigenous medicinal plants, seeds, genetic resources, and traditional medicines.[2]
Moreover, if biological resources and traditional knowledge are taken from indigenous or marginalized groups, the commercialization of their natural resource can harm communities. Despite the medicinal and innovative benefits of bioprospecting and biochemical research, the expropriation of indigenous land for their genetic resources without fair compensation inevitably leads to exploitation. Biopiracy can harm indigenous populations in multiple ways. Without proper compensation or reward for traditional knowledge of natural resources, the sudden increase in commercial value of the species producing the active compound can make it now unaffordable for the native people. In some cases, a patent filed by the western company could prohibit the use or sale of the resource by any individual or institution, including the indigenous group. With nearly one third of all small-molecule drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 1981 and 2014 being either natural products or compounds derived from natural products, bioprospecting or piracy is growing more significantly, especially in the pharmaceutical industry.[3] Furthermore, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mentions, in the context of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), that the medicinal traditions and knowledge of the Kallawaya communities in Peru have been affected by the lack of legal protection from pharmaceutical companies. A number of research projects are currently being developed on this subject, such as the research carried out using digital methods on the biopiracy of traditional medicines,[4][5] which shows the current context of the problem by developing a description and analysis of the data, and by visualising and mapping the various organisations and actors in the social networks.
With the advancement of extraction techniques of genetic material in biochemistry and molecular biology, scientists are now able to identify a specific gene, which directs to enzymes capable of converting one molecule to another.[6] This scientific breakthrough brings up the question of whether the organism containing the gene that has been modified through a series of tests and experiments should be accredited to the country of origin.
^Rose, Janna. "Biopiracy: when indigenous knowledge is patented for profit". The Conversation. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
^Imran, Yoonus; Wijekoon, Nalaka; Gonawala, Lakmal; Chiang, Yu-Chung; De Silva, K. Ranil D. (18 February 2021). "Biopiracy: Abolish Corporate Hijacking of Indigenous Medicinal Entities". The Scientific World Journal. 2021: 1–8. doi:10.1155/2021/8898842. PMC 7910072. PMID 33679261.
^Newman, David J.; Cragg, Gordon M. (25 March 2016). "Natural Products as Sources of New Drugs from 1981 to 2014". Journal of Natural Products. 79 (3): 629–661. doi:10.1021/acs.jnatprod.5b01055. PMID 26852623. S2CID 5809604.
^"Protectores VS Depredadores. Cartografía y visualización de la biopiratería de las medicinas tradicionales en Twitter". Retrieved 2024-05-16.
^"Visualización y cartografía de los territorios de la biopiratería de las medicinas tradicionales en Youtube". Retrieved 2024-05-16.
^Gressley, Gene M. (1999). "The Gold Rush in Miniature". The Western Historical Quarterly. 30 (4): 433–437. doi:10.2307/971418. JSTOR 971418.
Biopiracy (also known as scientific colonialism) is the unauthorized appropriation of knowledge and genetic resources of farming and indigenous communities...
is known as biopiracy. Various international treaties have been negotiated to provide countries legal recourse in the event of biopiracy and to offer...
varieties and their stewards are sometimes subject to theft and biopiracy. Biopiracy may negatively impact communities that grow these heirloom varieties...
Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology challenged the biopiracy of neem, basmati and wheat. She has served on expert groups of [where...
Hans-Adam of Liechtenstein, faced international outrage over allegations of biopiracy. It had also caused a brief diplomatic crisis between India and the United...
concerns that the pressure to explore the area's natural resources is biopiracy, i.e. the patenting of wild plants and animals at the expense of native...
knowledge without a benefit-sharing agreement in place, leading to claims of biopiracy. The CAH terminated its relationship with Walter Lewis, Washington University...
institutions who accused Chinese companies of illegally exporting maca and of biopiracy, as several Chinese patents had been filed to improve the propagation...
International The Red Nation UNPO KAFFED more ... Issues Aboriginal titles Biopiracy Civilizing mission Climate change Co-governance Discovery doctrine Discrimination...
surrounded by some controversies involving patents, commodification and biopiracy: Anahuasca (ayahuasca analogues). A term usually used to refer to the...
resource to capture them privately. Bioprospecting can become a type of biopiracy when such principles are not respected. Sovereignty principles can rely...
discovered it; the rubber boom ended less than a decade later after the biopiracy of Henry Wickham, who smuggled tens of thousands of rubber seeds out of...
ancient and traditional knowledge of the country from exploitation through biopiracy and unethical patents, by documenting it electronically and classifying...
centers that offered degrees in traditional ayurvedic medicine. To fight biopiracy and unethical patents, the government of India set up the Traditional...
International The Red Nation UNPO KAFFED more ... Issues Aboriginal titles Biopiracy Civilizing mission Climate change Co-governance Discovery doctrine Discrimination...
pharmaceutical companies, without compensation, has led to accusations of biopiracy. Vinblastine and vincristine, chemotherapy medications used to treat several...
International The Red Nation UNPO KAFFED more ... Issues Aboriginal titles Biopiracy Civilizing mission Climate change Co-governance Discovery doctrine Discrimination...
Line. 23 September 2000. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. "Biopiracy and traditional knowledge". The Hindu. India. 20 May 2001. Archived from...
for a fee with no benefit to the Karitiana, giving rise to claims of biopiracy. The same newspaper report claimed that further samples were taken in...
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