Bio-Property Contracts in a New Ecosystem: Genetic Resources Access and Benefit Sharing

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity presents a relatively new international legal framework. Although the United States is not currently bound by this legal instrument, its impact may be felt in the life sciences innovation sector and beyond. Transnational implementation mechanisms for the Nagoya Protocol have a combination of property law and contract law as their theoretical underpinning. Stakeholders who are entering into an agreement with their foreign counterparts should honor the Access and Benefit-Sharing scheme as well as domestic laws and policies of Parties to the Protocol to access biological materials located in their jurisdictions. Users’ due diligence in obtaining prior informed consent and adhering to mutually agreed terms will contribute greatly to promoting the objectives of the Nagoya Protocol and the Convention on Biological Diversity

Notch signaling via Hes1 transcription factor maintains survival of melanoblasts and melanocyte stem cells

Melanoblasts (Mbs) are thought to be strictly regulated by cell–cell interactions with epidermal keratinocytes, although the precise molecular mechanism of the regulation has been elusive. Notch signaling, whose activation is mediated by cell–cell interactions, is implicated in a broad range of developmental processes. We demonstrate the vital role of Notch signaling in the maintenance of Mbs, as well as melanocyte stem cells (MSCs). Conditional ablation of Notch signaling in the melanocyte lineage leads to a severe defect in hair pigmentation, followed by intensive hair graying. The defect is caused by a dramatic elimination of Mbs and MSCs. Furthermore, targeted overexpression of Hes1 is sufficient to protect Mbs from the elimination by apoptosis. Thus, these data provide evidence that Notch signaling, acting through Hes1, plays a crucial role in the survival of immature Mbs by preventing initiation of apoptosis

Participative decision making and the sharing of benefits: laws, ethics, and data protection for building extended global communities

Transdisciplinary and cross-cultural cooperation and collaboration are needed to build extended, densely interconnected information resources. These are the prerequisites for the successful implementation and execution of, for example, an ambitious monitoring framework accompanying the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD; SCBD 2021). Data infrastructures that meet the requirements and preferences of concerned communities can focus and attract community involvement, thereby promoting participatory decision making and the sharing of benefits. Community acceptance, in turn, drives the development of the data resources and data use. Earlier this year, the alliance for biodiversity knowledge (2021a) conducted forum-based consultations seeking community input on designing the next generation of digital specimen representations and consequently enhanced infrastructures. The multitudes of connections that arise from extending the digital specimen representations through linkages in all “directions” will form a powerful network of information for research and application. Yet, with the power of an extended, accessible data network comes the responsibility to protect sensitive information (e.g., the locations of threatened populations, culturally context-sensitive traditional knowledge, or businesses’ fundamental data and infrastructure assets). In addition, existing legislation regulates access and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits. Current negotiations on ‘Digital Sequence Information’ under the CBD suggest such obligations might increase and become more complex in the context of extensible information networks. For example, in the case of data and resources funded by taxpayers in the EU, such access should follow the general principle of being “as open as possible; as closed as is legally necessary” (cp. EC 2016). At the same time, the international regulations of the CBD Nagoya Protocol (SCBD 2011) need to be taken into account. Summarizing main outcomes from the consultation discussions in the forum thread “Meeting legal/regulatory, ethical and sensitive data obligations” (alliance for biodiversity knowledge 2021b), we propose a framework of ten guidelines and functionalities to achieve community building and drive application: Substantially contribute to the conservation and protection of biodiversity (cp. EC 2020). Use language that is CBD conformant. Show the importance of the digital and extensible specimen infrastructure for the continuing design and implementation of the post-2020 GBF, as well as the mobilisation and aggregation of data for its monitoring elements and indicators. Strive to openly publish as much data and metadata as possible online. Establish a powerful and well-thought-out layer of user and data access management, ensuring security of ‘sensitive data’. Encrypt data and metadata where necessary at the level of an individual specimen or digital object; provide access via digital cryptographic keys. Link obligations, rights and cultural information regarding use to the digital key (e.g. CARE principles (Carroll et al. 2020), Local Context-labels (Local Contexts 2021), licenses, permits, use and loan agreements, etc.). Implement a transactional system that records every transaction. Amplify workforce capacity across the digital realm, its work areas and workflows. Do no harm (EC 2020): Reduce the social and ecological footprint of the implementation, aiming for a long-term sustainable infrastructure across its life-cycle, including development, implementation and management stages. Balancing the needs for open access, as well as protection, accountability and sustainability, the framework is designed to function as a robust interface between the (research) infrastructure implementing the extensible network of digital specimen representations, and the myriad of applications and operations in the real world. With the legal, ethical and data protection layers of the framework in place, the infrastructure will provide legal clarity and security for data providers and users, specifically in the context of access and benefit sharing under the CBD and its Nagoya Protocol. Forming layers of protection, the characteristics and functionalities of the framework are envisioned to be flexible and finely-grained, adjustable to fulfill the needs and preferences of a wide range of stakeholders and communities, while remaining focused on the protection and rights of the natural world. Respecting different value systems and national policies, the framework is expected to allow a divergence of views to coexist and balance differing interests. Thus, the infrastructure of the digital extensible specimen network is fair and equitable to many providers and users. This foundation has the capacity and potential to bring together the diverse global communities using, managing and protecting biodiversity

Defining the museum of the 21st century: evolving multiculturalism in museums in the United States

This publication brings together a selection of papers presented at the online symposium organized by ICOFOM under the general theme Defining the Museum of the 21st Century, with Southern New Hampshire University in the United States on September 14, 2018.Chung, S.S.C., Leshchenko, A, & Soares, B.B. (Eds.). (2019). Defining the museum of the 21st century: evolving multiculturalism in museums in the United States. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.ed

Joint statement by CETAF, SPNHC and BHL on DATA within scientific publications: clarification of [non]copyrightability

The EU and other states have made legislative efforts to clarify data mining in copyrightable works, but the situation remains obscure and confusing, especially in a globalised field where international legislation can contribute to opacity. The present paper aims at asserting a common position of three communities representing biodiversity sciences and data specialists on this issue and to propose common and best practice guidelines so that they become universally accepted rules.As scientific data users, we take the standpoint that scientific data are not copyrightable and, furthermore, they can be accessed, shared and reused freely. Thus, once legal access has been gained to copyrighted publications, the data within those scholarly publications can be considered to be open data that is freely extractable. This set of recommendations has been reached specifically for scientific use and societal benefits

Repeated rough coiling technique of portosystemic shunt: A novel treatment for hepatic encephalopathy

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) usually occurs in the end stages of cirrhosis. During these stages, portosystemic shunt (PSS) is one cause of severe HE. Previous reports have demonstrated that shunt embolization is effective in cases involving a large PSS. However, embolization is risky in some patients because severe ascites and esophageal varices may result from aggravation of portal hypertension. Herein, we report a case in which intentional flow reduction was repeatedly performed for spleno-renal shunt using 2 flow reduction methods, debranching and the rough coiling technique, for a patient with severe HE for whom embolization of the whole PSS pathway was risky. Complete embolization was finally achieved by repeated flow reduction over 5 sessions. The patient tolerated treatment well with no ascites for 4 years after total embolization. If embolization of the whole PSS puts the patient at risk for refractory HE, repeatable flow reduction might provide a good alternative path to single-step embolization