The Future of Access and Benefit-Sharing: What Next after the Adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework and Decision on Digital Sequence Information?

Recent decisions at the Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) on access and benefit-sharing (ABS) fundamentally shift how ABS will work in the future. The key ABS challenges that now lie ahead will be to integrate digital sequence information into a functioning benefit-sharing mechanism compatible with the Nagoya Protocol, to address the difficult task of measuring benefit-sharing now required by the Global Biodiversity Framework, and ultimately to address the long-term challenges of the Nagoya Protocol’s bilateral ABS approach. The relevant COP15 decisions do not provide simple and quick answers to these challenges. However, they do lay the groundwork for change and could form the basis for the further development of effective access and benefit-sharing

Myth-busting the provider-user relationship for digital sequence information.

[EN] BACKGROUND: The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) formally recognized the sovereign rights of nations over their biological diversity. Implicit within the treaty is the idea that mega-biodiverse countries will provide genetic resources and grant access to them and scientists in high-income countries will use these resources and share back benefits. However, little research has been conducted on how this framework is reflected in real-life scientific practice. RESULT: Currently, parties to the CBD are debating whether digital sequence information (DSI) should be regulated under a new benefit-sharing framework. At this critical time point in the upcoming international negotiations, we test the fundamental hypothesis of provision and use of DSI by looking at the global patterns of access and use in scientific publications. CONCLUSION: Our data reject the provider-user relationship and suggest a far more complex information flow for DSI. Therefore, any new policy decisions on DSI should be aware of the high level of use of DSI across low- and middle-income countries and seek to preserve open access to this crucial common good.This publication was made possible by the research project WiLDSI (Wissenschaftliche Lösungsansätze für Digitale Sequenzinformation) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under funding code 031B0862

Multilateral benefit-sharing from digital sequence information will support both science and biodiversity conservation

Open access to sequence data is a cornerstone of biology and biodiversity research, but has created tension under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Policy decisions could compromise research and development, unless a practical multilateral solution is implemented.This workwas funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) WiLDSI 031B0862 (A.H.S., J.O., and J.F.) and Horizon Europe EVA-GLOBAL 871029 (A.H.S.). I.K.M. was supported by the National Center for Biotechnology Information of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health

Silk Route to the Acceptance and Re-Implementation of Bacteriophage Therapy—Part II

This perspective paper follows up on earlier communications on bacteriophage therapy that we wrote as a multidisciplinary and intercontinental expert-panel when we first met at a bacteriophage conference hosted by the Eliava Institute in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2015. In the context of a society that is confronted with an ever-increasing number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, we build on the previously made recommendations and specifically address how the Nagoya Protocol might impact the further development of bacteriophage therapy. By reviewing a number of recently conducted case studies with bacteriophages involving patients with bacterial infections that could no longer be successfully treated by regular antibiotic therapy, we again stress the urgency and significance of the development of international guidelines and frameworks that might facilitate the legal and effective application of bacteriophage therapy by physicians and the receiving patients. Additionally, we list and comment on several recently started and ongoing clinical studies, including highly desired double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials. We conclude with an outlook on how recently developed DNA editing technologies are expected to further control and enhance the efficient application of bacteriophages

New benefit-sharing principles for digital sequence information

Since 1992, international laws governing access and benefit sharing (ABS) have confirmed the principle that countries have sovereign rights over their nonhuman biological diversity and can regulate access to their genetic resources. These laws require the fair and equitable sharing of monetary (e.g., royalties) and nonmonetary (e.g., scientific training) benefits resulting from physical access to and utilization of those genetic resources (GRs). The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at their 15th meeting (COP-15) in December 2022 (1), includes a decision to establish a separate, multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism for the use of “digital sequence information” (DSI), i.e., biological data associated with, or derived from, genetic resources such as nucleotide sequences and epigenetic, protein, and metabolite data. The international community has a narrow window of opportunity to develop a DSI benefit-sharing framework that is simple, harmonized, effective, and transformational

Challenges and opportunities of geographical origin information in DSI benefit-sharing: a global analysis from the academic sector

<p><strong>Policy Brief</strong></p><p><strong>Abstract:</strong> COP15 Decision 15/9 establishes a multilateral mechanism to share benefits from digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources and lays out "issues for further consideration", including whether geographical information could be a criterion for the disbursement of benefits. But the decision also notes that tracking and tracing of all DSI is not possible. </p><p>At CBD COP16 in 2024, Parties will need to decide whether geographical origin of DSI could be used in the multilateral mechanism, and if so, how. </p><p>We have analyzed the availability of geographical information associated with DSI in a wide range of scientific databases and assessed the limitations and opportunities of using this information as an indicator tool for benefit-sharing.</p&gt

Challenges and opportunities of geographical origin information in DSI benefit-sharing: a global analysis from the academic sector

<p><strong>Policy Brief</strong></p><p><strong>Abstract:</strong> COP15 Decision 15/9 establishes a multilateral mechanism to share benefits from digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources and lays out "issues for further consideration", including whether geographical information could be a criterion for the disbursement of benefits. But the decision also notes that tracking and tracing of all DSI is not possible. </p><p>At CBD COP16 in 2024, Parties will need to decide whether geographical origin of DSI could be used in the multilateral mechanism, and if so, how. </p><p>We have analyzed the availability of geographical information associated with DSI in a wide range of scientific databases and assessed the limitations and opportunities of using this information as an indicator tool for benefit-sharing.</p&gt