ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess


Abstract Number: 2628
Session = 20.19.6


MATERIAL TRANSFER AGREEMENTS:CURSE OR CURE?


Dr.Bronwyn Parry, King's College,Cambridge,U.K.


Scientific and academic institutions have a long history of exchanging collected biological specimens with other like institutions as part of a broader project of scientific advancement.Recently however,concerns about the commercialisation and patenting of collected genetic resources have led to the introduction of new regulatory agreements governing the use and exchange of such materials. M.T.A's are designed to enable suppliers of genetic resources to trace the successive uses that are made of those materials by all who seek to access them. Celebrated by some as providing the first effective means of securing compensation for the use of circulated genetic materials,they are,alternatively,reviled by others for creating an unnecessary obstacle to the pursuance of scientific research. The debate surrounding the desirability, effectiveness and workability of M.T.A's is the subject of discussion in this paper.


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