Fifty years of capacity building in the search for new marine natural products

Miguel C. Leal (), Jaime M. Anaya-Rojas, Murray H. G. Munro, John W. Blunt, Carlos J. Melian, Ricardo Calado and Moritz D. Lürig
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Miguel C. Leal: ECOMARE - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies and Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-19 Aveiro, Portugal; Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, Center for Evolution and Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
Jaime M. Anaya-Rojas: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306; Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
Murray H. G. Munro: School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
John W. Blunt: School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
Carlos J. Melian: Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, Center for Evolution and Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
Ricardo Calado: ECOMARE - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies and Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-19 Aveiro, Portugal
Moritz D. Lürig: Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, Center for Evolution and Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland; Department of Aquatic Ecology, Center for Evolution and Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2020, vol. 117, issue 39, 24165-24172

Abstract: The Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Nagoya Protocol in particular, provide a framework for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of biological resources and traditional knowledge, and ultimately aim to promote capacity-building in the developing world. However, measuring capacity-building is a challenging task due to its intangible nature. By compiling and analyzing a database of scientific peer-reviewed publications over a period of 50 y (1965 to 2015), we investigated capacity-building in global marine natural product discovery. We used publication and authorship metrics to assess how the capacity to become scientifically proficient, prolific, and independent has changed in bioprospecting countries. Our results show that marine bioprospecting is a dynamically growing field of research with continuously increasing numbers of participating countries, publications, and scientists. Yet despite longstanding efforts to promote equitability and scientific independence, not all countries have similarly increased their capacity to explore marine biodiversity within their national jurisdiction areas. Although developing countries show an increasing trend in the number of publications, a few developed countries still account for almost one-half of all publications in the field. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that economic capacity affects how well countries with species-rich marine ecosystems can scientifically explore those resources. Overall, the capacity-building data analyzed here provides a timely contribution to the ongoing international debate about access to and benefit-sharing of biological resources for countries exploring biodiversity within and outside their national jurisdiction areas.

Keywords: marine bioprospecting; biological resources; benefit-sharing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nas:journl:v:117:y:2020:p:24165-24172

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