Prospecting the South Pole
By TAN CHENG LIA new report calls for a global agreement to oversee scientific research and commercial activities that are currently underway in the South Pole, writes TAN CHENG LI.
A “GOLD rush” is underway at Earth’s last frontier – Antarctica. A new generation of prospectors – bio-prospectors – are scouring the icy landscape to stake ownership on organisms and genetic materials that may be potentially useful drugs, antibiotics and industrial compounds. This has triggered fears that things may get out of hand if the activity is left unregulated.
A “free for all” situation, if allowed to develop, will have significant consequences for the fragile Antarctica environment, warns a new report by the Tokyo-based United Nations University (UNU). The document urges for accelerated efforts for an international agreement to oversee bio-prospecting in Antarctica.
Today, research institutions, universities and pharmaceutical companies are directing their attention to uncharted territories such as hydrothermal vents, the deep seabed, the water column of the high seas and polar ice caps in search of unique genetic and biochemical riches of “extremophiles”, organisms that have evolved unique characteristics to survive in Earth’s most hostile environments.
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Researchers studying krill from the Southern Ocean. Scientists are keen to study 'extremophiles', organisms that have unique traits to survive in hostile environments. |
“Biological prospecting for extremophiles is already occurring and is certain to accelerate in Antarctica and the southern oceans,” said Dr. A.H. Zakri, director of UNU’s Institute of Advanced Studies in a statement.
“This report suggests that efforts to exploit this new frontier are threatening to outpace the capacity of national and international law to regulate such things as ownership of genetic materials, the issuing of patents on products that may arise from them, and the potential environmental consequences of harvesting these resources.”
The report was released yesterday in advance of the global biodiversity meeting in Kuala Lumpur next week, the 7th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The issue of access and rights to biological resources is a major component of the Convention.
According to the report, biological prospecting in Antarctica is usually carried out by consortia comprising public and private bodies, principally universities, research centres, and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. This has made it difficult to distinguish between scientific research and commercial activities, although it is clear that much of the recent activity has led to commercial applications.
One of these is a glycoprotein which functions as the “antifreeze” that circulates in some Antarctic fish, preventing them from freezing in their sub-zero environments. It was discovered in the early 1970s by University of Illinois scientists conducting research funded by the United States National Science Foundation.
Glycoprotein has a range of potential applications, including increasing the freeze tolerance of commercial plants, improving farm-fish production in cold climates, extending shelf life of frozen food, improving surgery which involves the freezing of tissues, and enhancing preservation of tissues to be transplanted.
A preliminary scan of the US Patent Office database identified more than 300 references to Antarctica and 92 applications for patents that referred to Antarctica. A similar survey of the European Patent Office records turned up 62 patents that rely on Antarctic biodiversity.
Some recent examples:
- In 2002, Spain granted a patent for the wound healing and skin, hair and nail treatment properties of a glycoprotein extracted from an Antarctic bacteria.
- The same year, an extract from an Antarctic green algae was patented in Germany for use in cosmetic skin treatment.
- In 1997, Russia granted a patent for the production of biologically active substances with anti-tumour properties extracted from a strain of Antarctic black yeast.
- An application currently with the US Patent Office covers a process for producing anti-freeze chemicals discovered in Antarctic bacteria which may help to increase the shelf life of foods such as ice-cream and frozen vegetables.
The report notes that developing commercial products from naturally occurring genetic resources or biochemical processes is typically a long, expensive and uncertain process. Even so, annual sales derived from traditional knowledge using genetic resources are US$3bil (RM11.4bil) for the cosmetics and personal care industry, US$20bil (RM76bil) for the botanical medicine sector and US$75bil (RM285bil) for the pharmaceutical industry.
More than 60% of cancer drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration are of natural origin or are modelled on natural products.
“Although there has been a recent downturn in bioprospecting overall, it seems that the commercial use of naturally occurring extremophiles will increase, perhaps dramatically, in the near future,” said Hans van Ginkel, rector of UNU.
“This study shows that the world must be better prepared for this, especially with respect to the Antarctica. Many issues and questions need to be resolved in advance of the further exploitation of genetic resources at the pole.”
UNU-IAS researcher Sam Johnston who co-authored the report, said the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), the principal international agreement governing activity on the continent, does not specifically regulate bio-prospecting. Moreover, international policies governing bio-prospecting elsewhere are of limited value in addressing these questions.
Among the key issues not addressed by the ATS:
- Who owns the Antarctic genetic resources?
- How can scientists working in the Antarctic Treaty area legitimately acquire these resources and what measures must they take to protect these materials?
- Is benefit-sharing feasible and, if so, with whom?
- Who owns the commercial products resulting from these resources?
- What is the relationship between the ATS and other international agreements, for instance, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on the Law of the Sea?
The report concludes that although the physical impact of bioprospecting is currently addressed by the ATS regime, establishing the legal and policy basis that controls the commercialisation of genetic resources is a more complex matter.
It recommends further research with the emphasis on collecting information about existing and planned bio-prospecting activities and commercially orientated research in Antarctica. Legal issues relating to ownership and protection of Antarctica resource should also be sorted out.
It is also necessary to clarify whether bio-prospecting contravenes Article III of the ATS which calls for sharing of information on scientific programmes, expedition and station personnel as well as scientific observations and results.
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