Bioprospecting is

• the collecting and testing of biological samples (plants, animals, micro-organisms)
• and the collecting of indigenous knowledge to help in discovering and exploiting genetic or biochemical resources

Bioprospecting has primarily economic purposes (e.g., new drugs, crops, industrial products) Biology is the branch of science dealing with the study of life. ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Phyla Porifera (sponges) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Placozoa (trichoplax) Subregnum Bilateria (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is so small that it is microscopic (invisible to the naked eye). ... Indigenous peoples are: Peoples living in an area prior to colonization by a state Peoples living in an area within a nation-state, prior to the formation of a nation-state, but who do not identify with the dominant nation. ... Genetics (from the Greek genno γεννώ= give birth) is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. ... Biochemistry is the study of the chemistry of life, a bridge between biology and chemistry that studies how complex chemical reactions give rise to life. ... Medicine is the branch of health science and the sector of public life concerned with maintaining human health or restoring it through the treatment of disease and injury. ... A farmer in Germany working the land in the traditional way, with horse and plough. ...

Before 1992, biological resources were considered a common heritage of humankind. Scientists could take samples from anywhere in the world without any specific permission.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1992) re-affirms the sovereign rights of countries over the biological resources within their borders. Though not granted property upon natural resources, biodiversity-rich countries are committed to : 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Natural resources are naturally occuring substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified (natural) form. ... The Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty that was adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. ...

• conserve their biodiversity
• develop it for sustainable use
• share fairly the benefits resulting from this use

In short, bioprospecting has to be allowed by the biodiversity-rich country and must benefit it (and the communities that traditionally use these resources) as well as the corporations (usually from developed countries) or universities collecting the bioresource. Rainforests are the most biodiverse ecosystem on earth Biodiversity or biological diversity is the diversity of life. ... Sustainability is a systemic concept, relating to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society. ... It has been suggested that Incorporation (business) be merged into this article or section. ... A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees at all levels (bachelor, master, and doctor) in a variety of subjects. ...

Bioprospecting must follow the new rules of international treaties and national laws. More specifically, it must respect A treaty is a binding agreement under international law concluded by subjects of international law, namely states and international organizations. ...

• informed consent (the source country must know what will be done with the resource, and how benefits will be shared; and must give permission for collecting)
• fair agreement on benefit sharing (benefits may include support for conservation, research, equipment, technologies, knowledge transfer, development, royalties)

Bioprospecting may be considered as biopiracy when these principles are not respected. Some even argue bilateral agreements of bioprospecting between a country or a community and a corporation are a sort of juridical validation of biopiracy toward traditional communities whose values and rights are not considered and respected. Informed consent is a legal condition whereby a person can be said to have given consent based upon an appreciation and understanding of the facts and implications of any actions. ... Conservation can be confused with conversation and vice versa. ... Biopiracy refers to the privatization and unauthorized use of biological resources by entities (including corporations, universities and governments) outside of a country which has pre-existing knowledge. ...

See also

• Intellectual capital
• List of environment topics
• Natural capital

Intellectual capital is a term with various definitions in different theories of economics. ... This page aims to list articles related to the natural environment. ... Natural capital is a metaphor for the mineral, plant, and animal formations of the Earths biosphere when viewed as a means of production of oxygen, water filter, erosion preventer, or provider of other natural services. ...

References

• Bioprospecting of Genetic Resources in the Deep Sea, from the United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies