What is the role of a Bioprospector?
bioprospecting. The analysis of plants, animals, insects and other organisms in an ecosystem with high biodiversity for therapeutic candidate molecules and substances.
Why are Bioprospectors important to human life?
1. Bioprospecting has been an important phenomenon of discovering new drugs since the dawn of civilization. Several millions of people throughout the world have been using more than 8000 species of medicinal plants for the health care needs.
Who coined biopiracy?
Pat Mooney
The term biopiracy was coined in the early 1990s by Pat Mooney, founder of ETC Group – an organization which works to protect the world’s most vulnerable people from socioeconomic and environmental impacts of new technologies – to describe the theft or misappropriation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge …
Which is an example of bioprospecting?
There are many examples of bioprospecting: The opium poppy gave us a pain reliever called morphine. The white willow tree helped us develop aspirin. Our knowledge about spoiled sweet clover gave rise to a powerful anticoagulant called warfarin.
What are the three aspects of biopiracy?
The elements of the definition of biopiracy are therefore (a) exclusive and unjustified use of biological resources, (b) unjustified private use of indigenous knowledge, (c) inequitable distribution of the benefits resulting from bioprospecting, and (d) unjustified concession of biotechnological patents which do not …
What does Bioprospector mean?
noun. A person who searches for plant and animal species from which medicinal drugs and other commercially valuable compounds can be obtained. ‘marine bioprospectors are searching under the seas for new riches’
How can biopiracy be prevented?
Biopiracy refers to the use of bioresources by multinational companies and other organisations without proper authorisation from the countries and people concerned without compensatory payment. It can be prevented by developing laws to obtain proper authorisation and by paying compensatory benefits.
Is biopiracy same as bioprospecting?
Some call it biopiracy while others prefer the term bioprospecting or biodiscovery. The choice of words is significant as it reflects not only different ways to conduct and distribute the revenues from patenting of biological resources, but also different ways to look at the legitimacy of biopatents as such.
Why is the Enola bean controversial?
In the case of the Enola Bean, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, for example, made the claim in December 2000 that the yellow bean was ‘misappropriated’ from Mexico, and that it violates Mexico’s sovereign rights over its genetic resources, as recognized by the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Is biopiracy and bioprospecting same?
a term that is sometimes used as an alternative to biopiracy that implies a non-exploitative way of developing and potentially commercializing biological resources. The Indian activist and academic Vandana Shiva, however, discards bioprospecting as ‘merely a sophisticated form of biopiracy’ (Shiva 2007, p. 308).
What does biopiracy mean?
noun. the commercial exploitation or monopolization of biological or genetic material, as medicinal plant extracts, usually without compensating the Indigenous peoples or countries from which the material or relevant knowledge is obtained.
What does the word biopiracy means?
: the unethical or unlawful appropriation or commercial exploitation of biological materials (such as medicinal plant extracts) that are native to a particular country or territory without providing fair financial compensation to the people or government of that country or territory The 60-year-old scientist was …
What are bioprospecting-derived pharmaceuticals used for?
Bioprospecting-derived pharmaceuticals have been developed for the treatment of non-communicable diseases and conditions too.
What are the requirements for a bioprospecting contract?
The requirements for bioprospecting as set by CBD has created a new branch of international patent and trade law : bioprospecting contracts. Bioprospecting contracts lay down the rules, between researchers and countries, of benefit sharing and can bring royalties to lesser-developed countries.
Are there any risks associated with bioprospecting?
These include the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol. Other risks associated with bioprospecting are the overharvesting of individual species and environmental damage, but legislation has been developed to combat these also.
Why do we use standard protocols for bioprospecting?
This helps ensure any important discoveries are reproducible. When testing extracts and isolated compounds for bioactivity and toxicity, the use of standard protocols (eg. CLSI, ISO, NIH, EURL ECVAM, OECD) is desirable because this improves test result accuracy and reproducibility.