Author: Maria Huete-Ortega

Teknopolis Program Television

Euskal Errati Telebista (EiTB), the Basque Radio Television addressed the issue of Biodiversity, in its Teknopolis program, one of its senior programs. Our colleague Ibon Cancio, from the Plentzia Maritime Station (PIE) of the University of the Basque Country (UPV / EHU) was interviewed while he presented some of the coastal areas where he usually samples, places rich in biodiversity. Many of the species present in those areas can be utilized as marine genetic resources by the industry as well as by researchers from academia, in order to obtain products with many potential uses: cosmetic, nutrition, health… Ibon Cancio focused his intervention on the importance of properly explaining what marine genetic resources are, what is their origin, who owns them and how necessary is to protect those resources, hence preserving biodiversity.

Dr. Cancio explained the regulations governing access to genetic resources, focusing on the the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing. He explained how the Nagoya protocol aims at a fair sharing of the benefits obtained from the exploitation of these genetic resources between both the party that exploits them and the provider country.

You can enjoy the full program here

WiLDSI webinar “Finding compromise on ABS & DSI in the CBD: Requirements & policy ideas from a scientific perspective”

Ibon Cancio was invited to participate as scientific advisor in the steering committee of the German project “WiLDSI: Science-based approaches for Digital Sequence Information” (Directed by: Leibniz Institutes DSMZ, IPK Gatersleben). In the framework of this project the White Paper “Finding compromise on ABS & DSI in the CBD: Requirements & policy ideas. From a scientific perspective”. Scholz, A.H.; Hillebrand, U.; Freitag, J; Cancio, I.; et al. 49 pp. (DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.35180.80001) was published here

The aim of the paper is to present the needs of researchers in regard to DSI and the hurdles that new regulations on DSI inclusion within Nagoya protocol on Access and benefit Sharing could impose in scientific advances, The paper presents 5 policy options that would safeguard open access, simplicity, legal certainty, future proof and present possibilities to include genetic resources. This is presented as a discussion paper in advance of the COP15 meeting to take place in China in 2021.

The White paper was publicly launched on the 7th of October of 2020 through a Webinar attended worldwide by 406 registered stakeholders. Ibon Cancio presented the section entitled “Misfits: Nagoya Protocol and DSI”.

The webinar “Finding compromise on ABS & DSI in the CBD: Requirements & policy ideas from a scientific perspective” can be visualised in the recorded video to be found here

Virtual Training on Quality Management Systems for culture collections and biobanks

A virtual Quality Management Systems (QMS) training workshop for culture collections and biobanks from EBB partnership took place last week in the framework of WP4 (“Development of common methodologies for the management of Marine Biobanks”). The training had 6 participants from three EBB partners (CIIMAR, NUIG and UPV/EHU) involved in managing collections in their respective institutions, and 2 trainers from the University of Sorbonne (Priscillia Gourvil, Roscoff marine station) and University of Vigo (Sergio González, ECIMAT marine station), who are the QMS managers at their respective stations.

The training was hosted and organised by the University of Vigo (EBB lead partner) with Belén Martín Míguez (EBB coordinator) acting as facilitator. It ran over three days structured into ‘wake-up talks’ followed by lectures on QMS matters and hands-on activities. Topics covered during the lectures included “Fundamentals of QMS”, “QMS requirements for culture collections and biobanks” and “QMS documentation”. Additional topics of interest for the management of the collections like the Nagoya protocol or Cryopreservation techniques were also presented by Fiz da Costa and Estefanía Paredes respectively. The hands-on activities allowed the participants to consolidate and put in practice the concepts acquired during the lectures with the support of the trainers.

Overall, the training was highly informative for the participants, and fostered the exchange of experiences and ideas in a relaxed atmosphere. The participants will be initiating a QMS implementation process for their respective collections and biobanks in the next months, and they can count on the advice and support of EBB QMS trainers to guide them through the process.

EBB is a project that operates under the umbrella of EMBRC (European Marine Biological Resource Centre) research infrastructure and the results of this training will be a contribution to it.

Webinar: “Digital Sequence Information: general overview and use in environmental genomics”

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Ibon Cancio (UPV/EHU) was one of the participants of the “Briefing on Digital Sequence Information (DSI)”, held at the Leibniz Institute DSMZ. He presented the goals of the EBB project in connection with aspects related to the incorporation of Digital Sequence Information (DSI) to the definition of Genetic Resources in the context of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). His talk was entitled: “Digital Sequence Information: general overview and use in environmental genomics”.

The webinar was an event originated upon request of the Ministry of Environment of Chile to assist the country to make informed decisions on its position for COPI5 around incorporation of DSI to the ABS practice in the Convention of Biological Diversity.

 

From the ocean to the laboratory: Marine genetic resources and their application in the developmentof new bioactive molecules

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UVigo has attended the seminar with the title: “From the ocean to the laboratory: Marine genetic resources and their application in the development of new bioactive molecules.”, organized by CETMAR (Centro Tecnológico del Mar) under the project BlueHuman.

It is well known that oceans are home to an enormous biological diversity and represent a reservoir, barely explored, of a multitude of bioactive molecules with potential applicability in different fields such as human health. The path from collecting marine organisms, detecting molecules with biological activity, all the way until these reach the market as a pharmacological product, is extremely complex. The purpose of this seminar was precisely to know in depth aspects related to this complicated process, including the legal aspects surrounding the use of genetic resources for commercial purposes.

Antonio Villanueva (EBB coordinator), Belén Sánchez and Laura Movilla (lectures in Public International Law at the University of Vigo) have participated in the event.