digital sequence information

1. The Commission, at its last session, established a new work stream on “digital sequence information” and requested the Secretariat to prepare, subject to the availability of the necessary resources, an exploratory fact-finding scoping study on “digital sequence information” on genetic resources for food and agriculture (GRFA) to provide information on, inter alia, terminology used in this area, actors involved with “digital sequence information” on GRFA, the types and extent of uses of “digital sequence information” on GRFA, such as:

The BBNJ Agreement fills a regulatory gap concerning bioprospecting at sea and represents a major step towards the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits deriving from the utilization of marine genetic resources (MGRs) found on the high seas or in the Area. With a view to implementing the Agreement, however, there are a number of complex issues that remain to be addressed. Among them, it stands out the interaction with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol,
whose access and benefit-sharing (ABS) mechanism applies to MGRs and associated TK in areas under the jurisdiction of coastal States or stored ex situ. The Protocol will certainly contribute to the proper implementation of the BBNJ Agreement, in terms of monitoring the use of marine genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. However, the interaction between the two regulatory systems is not free from problems. One should consider that some genetic resources falling within the scope of BBNJ
Agreement are also present in areas under the jurisdiction of one or more coastal States. While acknowledging the need to pay due regard for the rights and legitimate interests of coastal States, the BBNJ Agreement does not set precise ABS criteria in the case of “straddling MGRs” located both in areas beyond national jurisdiction and in the territorial sea, EEZ or continental shelf of one or more States. The need for coherence, complementarity and synergies is even more pressing to develop, under
the BBNJ Agreement, a workable solution on the sharing of benefits deriving from the use of digital sequence information (DSI). At a time when parallel processes are underway within the CBD and other specialized ABS instruments, all these efforts to regulate DSI databases need to be mutually supportive, in order to avoid gaps and inconsistences between the different multilateral regimes.

The international seed “regime complex” and environmental law are criticized for a dualistic and naturalistic view of the environment. We propose to rethink the seed regime from a relational approach of law, by suggesting a “right of relations” between humans and seeds .

One of the most prominent reactions to COVID-19 at the global level is possibly the ambition to develop a new multilateral treaty to help tackle the next pandemic. Under the auspice of the World Health Organization, the so-called WHO CA+ (also referred to as the Pandemic Treaty) negotiations offer a unique opportunity to strengthen equity, transparency and cooperation in global public health. However, these intergovernmental negotiations are taking place at a critical time, when the access and benefit sharing (ABS) regime for genetic resources is fragmented and outdated - even rendered obsolete - by the digitization of genetic resources. We propose here a set of policy recommendations to ensure that the Pandemic Treaty negotiations will yield a comprehensive, scientifically sound, and ethically robust new instrument that reinforces multilateralism. We recommend ways to streamline ABS modalities into the context of pathogens, to define a scope of the Pandemic Treaty that encompasses a wide range of pathogens and genetic resources and finally to address the challenges posed by digitization. We conclude by underlining the importance of scientific expertise to help integrate our recommendations effectively. We strongly support the creation of an international panel for pandemic preparedness and response to be possibly integrated into the Pandemic Treaty provisions. This inclusive and multilateral panel, reflecting successful models such as the IPCC and IPBES, would provide knowledge for effective and efficient decision-making against the next pandemic.

This article examines the use of scientific arguments in negotiations on the status of Digital Sequence Information (DSI), focusing on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), and the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework (PIP). DSI is a placeholder term used in negotiations on the dematerialization of genetic resources: the ability to sequence "physical" genetic resources and use this "intangible" information, which radically changes research practices. The CBD (among other instruments) establishes rules for Access to the Genetic Resource and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits from their utilization (ABS). This applies to "physical" genetic resources, but it is not clear for DSI. Indeed, different legal interpretations and political narrative are conflicting over the integration of DSI into these legal frameworks. This article explores how science is used in these negotiations, particularly in its rhetorical and epistocratic dimensions. The methodology combines an interdisciplinary approach (legal technique, philosophy of law and science) and a comparative discourse analysis: on the terminology; the inclusion of DSI in the definition of genetic material; and the inclusion of DSI in ABS systems. While scientific arguments play a crucial role in this technical issue, this article shows that scientific arguments can be used to support political positions (under the guise of objectivity and neutrality), and that this use of scientific arguments is not consistent, even contradictory (between PIP and CBD/ITPGRFA).

The Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) is an audacious endeavor to obtain whole-genome sequences of representatives from all eukaryotic species on Earth. In addition to the project’s technical and organizational challenges, it also faces complicated ethical, legal, and social issues. This paper, from members of the EBP’s Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues (ELSI) Committee, catalogs these ELSI concerns arising from EBP. These include legal issues, such as sample collection and permitting; the applicability of international treaties, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol; intellectual property; sample accessioning; and biosecurity and ethical issues, such as sampling from the territories of Indigenous peoples and local communities, the protection of endangered species, and cross-border collections, among several others. We also comment on the intersection of digital sequence information and data rights. More broadly, this list of ethical, legal, and social i...

Negotiations around the potential inclusion of biodiversity data within the scope of access and benefit sharing mechanisms of international treaties on genetic resources have been contentious. Uncertainty persists around which data might be included and the impacts of this important change on the ability to advance science. This special collection of research, review, and opinion articles provides a range of evidence and viewpoints contributing context to these negotiations and the underlying scientific issues involved. Emerging themes include the need for clarity on the scope of biodiversity data subject to access and benefit sharing; the recognition that open exchange of these data provides substantial societal benefits; the prognosis that substantial constraints on access to biodiversity data will negatively impact research; the consensus that multilateral systems of exchange are preferable to bilateral ones; and emphasis on further capacity building and other forms of benefit sh...

Global consensus that biodiversity is essential to humanity's productivity, health, and even survival has not translated into nearly enough conservation action to reverse, or in many cases even to slow its loss over several decades (Díaz et al., 2020; IPBES, 2019). A recent review of the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)-crafted to envision necessary progress between 2010 and 2020-found that none of the Targets had been met, and

The decoupling of biological information from its material source has changed debates about global access and benefit sharing (ABS) of genetic resources. What does the digitization of biological information imply for genetic resources of proven and potential value? What implications does digital sequence information (DSI) have for individuals and groups, who have invested time and effort in augmenting and refining valuable characteristics in genetic resources? Stakeholders discussing this issue in various international fora unanimously acknowledge there are currently more questions than answers. Online digital publicly accessible resources represent a transformative technological shift, resulting in intellectual property governance gaps. This article provides interdisciplinary perspectives on options available to governments to continue advancing the goals of ABS, when physical access to genetic resources is no longer needed because DSI is readily accessible. It envisions four governance scenarios.

The decoupling of biological information from its material source has changed debates about global access and benefit sharing (ABS) of genetic resources. What does the digitization of biological information imply for genetic resources of proven and potential value? What implications does digital sequence information (DSI) have for individuals and groups, who have invested time and effort in augmenting and refining valuable characteristics in genetic resources? Stakeholders discussing this issue in various international fora unanimously acknowledge there are currently more questions than answers. Online digital publicly accessible resources represent a transformative technological shift, resulting in intellectual property governance gaps. This article provides interdisciplinary perspectives on options available to governments to continue advancing the goals of ABS, when physical access to genetic resources is no longer needed because DSI is readily accessible. It envisions four governance scenarios.

Crop diversity remains as valuable to global food security as ever. Yet information about this diversity seems to have become nearly as important as the seeds themselves. With the advent of high‐throughput DNA sequencing technologies and emerging “phenomic” approaches, and new platforms to store and explore the data they generate, the ways in which our global community can produce and access this information, and share the benefits of its use, is rapidly changing, creating a set of challenges that we will explore in a special collection of papers in Plants, People, Planet.

The decoupling of biological information from its material source has changed debates about global access and benefit sharing (ABS) of genetic resources. What does the digitization of biological information imply for genetic resources of proven and potential value? What implications does digital sequence information (DSI) have for individuals and groups, who have invested time and effort in augmenting and refining valuable characteristics in genetic resources? Stakeholders discussing this issue in various international fora unanimously acknowledge there are currently more questions than answers. Online digital publicly accessible resources represent a transformative technological shift, resulting in intellectual property governance gaps. This article provides interdisciplinary perspectives on options available to governments to continue advancing the goals of ABS, when physical access to genetic resources is no longer needed because DSI is readily accessible. It envisions four governance scenarios.