Pub Date : 2015-01-01Epub Date: 2015-01-29DOI: 10.1186/s40504-014-0021-8
Ellen-Marie Forsberg
This editorial presents the background for the article collection 'ELSA and RRI'. It sets the stage for the topics discussed in the collection and briefly presents the different contributions. It concludes by opening up for continued discussion of the relations between ELSA and RRI.
{"title":"ELSA and RRI--Editorial.","authors":"Ellen-Marie Forsberg","doi":"10.1186/s40504-014-0021-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-014-0021-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This editorial presents the background for the article collection 'ELSA and RRI'. It sets the stage for the topics discussed in the collection and briefly presents the different contributions. It concludes by opening up for continued discussion of the relations between ELSA and RRI. </p>","PeriodicalId":37861,"journal":{"name":"Life Sciences, Society and Policy","volume":"11 ","pages":"2"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40504-014-0021-8","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"33398417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2015-01-01Epub Date: 2015-03-27DOI: 10.1186/s40504-014-0022-7
Mahsa Shabani, Pascal Borry
In order to study the relationship between genes and diseases, the increasing availability and sharing of phenotypic and genotypic data have been promoted as an imperative within the scientific community. In parallel with data sharing practices by clinicians and researchers, recent initiatives have been observed in which individuals are sharing personal genomic data. The involvement of individuals in such initiatives is facilitated by the increased accessibility of personal genomic data, offered by private test providers along with availability of online networks. Personal webpages and on-line data sharing platforms such as Consent to Research (Portable Legal Consent), Free the Data, and Genomes Unzipped are being utilized to host and share genotypes, electronic health records and family history uploaded by individuals. Although personal genomic data sharing initiatives vary in nature, the emphasis on the individuals' control on their data in order to benefit research and ultimately health care has seen as a key theme across these initiatives. In line with the growing practice of personal genomic data sharing, this paper aims to shed light on the potential challenges surrounding these initiatives. As in the course of these initiatives individuals are solicited to individually balance the risks and benefits of sharing their genomic data, their awareness of the implications of personal genomic data sharing for themselves and their family members is a necessity. Furthermore, given the sensitivity of genomic data and the controversies around their complete de-identifiability, potential privacy risks and harms originating from unintended uses of data have to be taken into consideration.
{"title":"Challenges of web-based personal genomic data sharing.","authors":"Mahsa Shabani, Pascal Borry","doi":"10.1186/s40504-014-0022-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-014-0022-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In order to study the relationship between genes and diseases, the increasing availability and sharing of phenotypic and genotypic data have been promoted as an imperative within the scientific community. In parallel with data sharing practices by clinicians and researchers, recent initiatives have been observed in which individuals are sharing personal genomic data. The involvement of individuals in such initiatives is facilitated by the increased accessibility of personal genomic data, offered by private test providers along with availability of online networks. Personal webpages and on-line data sharing platforms such as Consent to Research (Portable Legal Consent), Free the Data, and Genomes Unzipped are being utilized to host and share genotypes, electronic health records and family history uploaded by individuals. Although personal genomic data sharing initiatives vary in nature, the emphasis on the individuals' control on their data in order to benefit research and ultimately health care has seen as a key theme across these initiatives. In line with the growing practice of personal genomic data sharing, this paper aims to shed light on the potential challenges surrounding these initiatives. As in the course of these initiatives individuals are solicited to individually balance the risks and benefits of sharing their genomic data, their awareness of the implications of personal genomic data sharing for themselves and their family members is a necessity. Furthermore, given the sensitivity of genomic data and the controversies around their complete de-identifiability, potential privacy risks and harms originating from unintended uses of data have to be taken into consideration. </p>","PeriodicalId":37861,"journal":{"name":"Life Sciences, Society and Policy","volume":"11 ","pages":"3"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40504-014-0022-7","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"33398418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-12-01Epub Date: 2014-04-05DOI: 10.1186/s40504-014-0009-4
Bjørn Kåre Myskja, Rune Nydal, Anne Ingeborg Myhr
This article criticizes recent suggestions that the current ELSI research field should accommodate a new direction towards a 'post-ELSI' agenda. Post-ELSI research seeks to avoid the modernist division of responsibility for technical and social issues said to characterize ELSI research. Collaboration and integration are consequently the key terms of post-ELSI strategies that are to distinguish it from ELSI strategies. We argue that this call for a new direction relies on an inadequate generalized analysis of ELSI research as modern that will affect the construal of post-ELSI strategies. We are concerned that the call for post-ELSI shift will exclude imaginative proposals and intellectual freedom by narrowing down the scope and methodologies of ELSI and thereby missing opportunities to play a critical and constructive normative role. Instead of framing current trends in ELSI research as a radical and progressive shift from ELSI to post-ELSI, we suggest an alternative story of expansion and diversification described in terms of a drift from ELSA 1 to ELSA 2, pertaining to acronyms in use in Europe. ELSI research has never been modern. It has been experimenting from the very start on ways to mesh the works of humanist, social and natural scientist in order to bridge and build alignments of emerging scientific and societal goals and matters of concern. The development from ELSA 1 to ELSA 2 expands in our account the range of intellectual and methodological capacities of analysis and engagement of complex and dynamic science-society relationships. We present three areas of ELSA expertise to illustrate that the expertise within the field builds on scholarly achievements within the humanities, social sciences as well as the natural sciences. The plurality of disciplinary background of ELSA researchers represents a valuable diversity that enables mutual criticism and formulations of complementary approaches that together constitute a viable ELSA field.
{"title":"We have never been ELSI researchers - there is no need for a post-ELSI shift.","authors":"Bjørn Kåre Myskja, Rune Nydal, Anne Ingeborg Myhr","doi":"10.1186/s40504-014-0009-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-014-0009-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article criticizes recent suggestions that the current ELSI research field should accommodate a new direction towards a 'post-ELSI' agenda. Post-ELSI research seeks to avoid the modernist division of responsibility for technical and social issues said to characterize ELSI research. Collaboration and integration are consequently the key terms of post-ELSI strategies that are to distinguish it from ELSI strategies. We argue that this call for a new direction relies on an inadequate generalized analysis of ELSI research as modern that will affect the construal of post-ELSI strategies. We are concerned that the call for post-ELSI shift will exclude imaginative proposals and intellectual freedom by narrowing down the scope and methodologies of ELSI and thereby missing opportunities to play a critical and constructive normative role. Instead of framing current trends in ELSI research as a radical and progressive shift from ELSI to post-ELSI, we suggest an alternative story of expansion and diversification described in terms of a drift from ELSA 1 to ELSA 2, pertaining to acronyms in use in Europe. ELSI research has never been modern. It has been experimenting from the very start on ways to mesh the works of humanist, social and natural scientist in order to bridge and build alignments of emerging scientific and societal goals and matters of concern. The development from ELSA 1 to ELSA 2 expands in our account the range of intellectual and methodological capacities of analysis and engagement of complex and dynamic science-society relationships. We present three areas of ELSA expertise to illustrate that the expertise within the field builds on scholarly achievements within the humanities, social sciences as well as the natural sciences. The plurality of disciplinary background of ELSA researchers represents a valuable diversity that enables mutual criticism and formulations of complementary approaches that together constitute a viable ELSA field. </p>","PeriodicalId":37861,"journal":{"name":"Life Sciences, Society and Policy","volume":"10 ","pages":"9"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2014-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40504-014-0009-4","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"33277744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-12-01Epub Date: 2014-03-18DOI: 10.1186/s40504-014-0007-6
Michael Gallagher
The rare case of the patient unwilling to disclose genetic data to his or her family provides an opportunity to expand the atomistic conception of the autonomous individual in medical decision-making. Medical practitioners naturally avoid violating patient autonomy and privacy. However, unwilling disclosure can damage the health of people other than the patient. In this situation, professionals must weigh the principle of autonomy against the nature of relationships, duties, and confidentialities between patient, professional, and family. The paradigm case studied is that of a patient with a potentially dangerous heart condition, Long QT Syndrome 3. Patients with Long QT 3 are at high risk for dying of ventricular tachycardia during rest, especially from ages 40-60. Once familial genetic testing was completed, the proband's mother, who was positive for the mutation, chose not to inform her estranged sister of the diagnosis.This paper examines the ethical duties of the physician to inform a patient's extended family of a serious genetic diagnosis, with a focus on the emotional and psychological effects of genetic testing. The need to adapt the process of violating confidentiality around considerations for the patient's emotional state and narrative will be addressed. This approach considers the patient's narrative, standpoint, and relationships as a way to develop a support plan and will present a guideline for cases where the probability of significant harm to others supersedes the patient's preference of non-disclosure as well as the physician's respect of confidentiality. The paper seeks to expand the conversation on genetic testing and autonomy beyond principles by considering all parties involved and emphasizes the use of the varied resources available to medical practitioners, especially to provide the best help possible without overburdening physicians with duties.
{"title":"The intersection of relational autonomy and narrative ethics for the patient unwilling to disclose genetic diagnosis information.","authors":"Michael Gallagher","doi":"10.1186/s40504-014-0007-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-014-0007-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The rare case of the patient unwilling to disclose genetic data to his or her family provides an opportunity to expand the atomistic conception of the autonomous individual in medical decision-making. Medical practitioners naturally avoid violating patient autonomy and privacy. However, unwilling disclosure can damage the health of people other than the patient. In this situation, professionals must weigh the principle of autonomy against the nature of relationships, duties, and confidentialities between patient, professional, and family. The paradigm case studied is that of a patient with a potentially dangerous heart condition, Long QT Syndrome 3. Patients with Long QT 3 are at high risk for dying of ventricular tachycardia during rest, especially from ages 40-60. Once familial genetic testing was completed, the proband's mother, who was positive for the mutation, chose not to inform her estranged sister of the diagnosis.This paper examines the ethical duties of the physician to inform a patient's extended family of a serious genetic diagnosis, with a focus on the emotional and psychological effects of genetic testing. The need to adapt the process of violating confidentiality around considerations for the patient's emotional state and narrative will be addressed. This approach considers the patient's narrative, standpoint, and relationships as a way to develop a support plan and will present a guideline for cases where the probability of significant harm to others supersedes the patient's preference of non-disclosure as well as the physician's respect of confidentiality. The paper seeks to expand the conversation on genetic testing and autonomy beyond principles by considering all parties involved and emphasizes the use of the varied resources available to medical practitioners, especially to provide the best help possible without overburdening physicians with duties. </p>","PeriodicalId":37861,"journal":{"name":"Life Sciences, Society and Policy","volume":"10 ","pages":"7"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2014-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40504-014-0007-6","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"33272479","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-12-01Epub Date: 2014-04-05DOI: 10.1186/s40504-014-0004-9
Jusaku Minari, Tetsuya Shirai, Kazuto Kato
As evidenced by high-throughput sequencers, genomic technologies have recently undergone radical advances. These technologies enable comprehensive sequencing of personal genomes considerably more efficiently and less expensively than heretofore. These developments present a challenge to the conventional framework of biomedical ethics; under these changing circumstances, each research project has to develop a pragmatic research policy. Based on the experience with a new large-scale project-the Genome Science Project-this article presents a novel approach to conducting a specific policy for personal genome research in the Japanese context. In creating an original informed-consent form template for the project, we present a two-tiered process: making the draft of the template following an analysis of national and international policies; refining the draft template in conjunction with genome project researchers for practical application. Through practical use of the template, we have gained valuable experience in addressing challenges in the ethical review process, such as the importance of sharing details of the latest developments in genomics with members of research ethics committees. We discuss certain limitations of the conventional concept of informed consent and its governance system and suggest the potential of an alternative process using information technology.
{"title":"Ethical considerations of research policy for personal genome analysis: the approach of the Genome Science Project in Japan.","authors":"Jusaku Minari, Tetsuya Shirai, Kazuto Kato","doi":"10.1186/s40504-014-0004-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-014-0004-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As evidenced by high-throughput sequencers, genomic technologies have recently undergone radical advances. These technologies enable comprehensive sequencing of personal genomes considerably more efficiently and less expensively than heretofore. These developments present a challenge to the conventional framework of biomedical ethics; under these changing circumstances, each research project has to develop a pragmatic research policy. Based on the experience with a new large-scale project-the Genome Science Project-this article presents a novel approach to conducting a specific policy for personal genome research in the Japanese context. In creating an original informed-consent form template for the project, we present a two-tiered process: making the draft of the template following an analysis of national and international policies; refining the draft template in conjunction with genome project researchers for practical application. Through practical use of the template, we have gained valuable experience in addressing challenges in the ethical review process, such as the importance of sharing details of the latest developments in genomics with members of research ethics committees. We discuss certain limitations of the conventional concept of informed consent and its governance system and suggest the potential of an alternative process using information technology. </p>","PeriodicalId":37861,"journal":{"name":"Life Sciences, Society and Policy","volume":"10 ","pages":"4"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2014-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40504-014-0004-9","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"33272476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-12-01Epub Date: 2014-04-05DOI: 10.1186/s40504-014-0008-5
Cristian Timmermann
Taking people's longevity as a measure of good life, humankind can proudly say that the average person is living a much longer life than ever before. The AIDS epidemic has however for the first time in decades stalled and in some cases even reverted this trend in a number of countries. Climate change is increasingly becoming a major challenge for food security and we can anticipate that hunger caused by crop damages will become much more common.Since many of the challenges humanity faced in the past were overcome by inventive solutions coming from the life sciences, we are compelled to reconsider how we incentivize science and technology development so that those in need can benefit more broadly from scientific research. There is a huge portion of the world population that is in urgent need for medicines to combat diseases that are currently neglected by the scientific community and could immensely benefit from agricultural research that specifically targets their environmental conditions. At the same time efforts have to be made to make the fruits of current and future research more widely accessible. These changes would have to be backed by a range of moral arguments to attract people with diverging notions of global justice. This article explores the main ethical theories used to demand a greater share in the benefits from scientific progress for the poor. Since life sciences bring about a number of special concerns, a short list of conflictive issues is also offered.
{"title":"Limiting and facilitating access to innovations in medicine and agriculture: a brief exposition of the ethical arguments.","authors":"Cristian Timmermann","doi":"10.1186/s40504-014-0008-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s40504-014-0008-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Taking people's longevity as a measure of good life, humankind can proudly say that the average person is living a much longer life than ever before. The AIDS epidemic has however for the first time in decades stalled and in some cases even reverted this trend in a number of countries. Climate change is increasingly becoming a major challenge for food security and we can anticipate that hunger caused by crop damages will become much more common.Since many of the challenges humanity faced in the past were overcome by inventive solutions coming from the life sciences, we are compelled to reconsider how we incentivize science and technology development so that those in need can benefit more broadly from scientific research. There is a huge portion of the world population that is in urgent need for medicines to combat diseases that are currently neglected by the scientific community and could immensely benefit from agricultural research that specifically targets their environmental conditions. At the same time efforts have to be made to make the fruits of current and future research more widely accessible. These changes would have to be backed by a range of moral arguments to attract people with diverging notions of global justice. This article explores the main ethical theories used to demand a greater share in the benefits from scientific progress for the poor. Since life sciences bring about a number of special concerns, a short list of conflictive issues is also offered. </p>","PeriodicalId":37861,"journal":{"name":"Life Sciences, Society and Policy","volume":"10 ","pages":"8"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2014-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4646888/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"33272480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-12-01Epub Date: 2014-05-14DOI: 10.1186/s40504-014-0013-8
Laurence Perbal
In modern societies, rhetoric focused on body and health is common as biomedical sciences have taken a big place in people's lives. They must enhance the society, health and living conditions of citizens. Solving criminality problems remains a major challenge and the early detection of antisocial children - future offenders - promises to offer a solution to criminality thanks to science and medical advances. But in a democratic society that values solidarism and pluralism and tends to preserve the social link, it is necessary to question the ethical relevance of this method of managing criminality. This paper proposes to analyze these questions in the light of debates that have troubled France for a number of years.
{"title":"Early detection of criminality concerns and the social link.","authors":"Laurence Perbal","doi":"10.1186/s40504-014-0013-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-014-0013-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In modern societies, rhetoric focused on body and health is common as biomedical sciences have taken a big place in people's lives. They must enhance the society, health and living conditions of citizens. Solving criminality problems remains a major challenge and the early detection of antisocial children - future offenders - promises to offer a solution to criminality thanks to science and medical advances. But in a democratic society that values solidarism and pluralism and tends to preserve the social link, it is necessary to question the ethical relevance of this method of managing criminality. This paper proposes to analyze these questions in the light of debates that have troubled France for a number of years. </p>","PeriodicalId":37861,"journal":{"name":"Life Sciences, Society and Policy","volume":"10 ","pages":"13"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2014-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40504-014-0013-8","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"33277748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-12-01Epub Date: 2014-04-26DOI: 10.1186/s40504-014-0005-8
Gry Oftedal
Research on ethical, legal and social aspects (ELSA) of life sciences and new technologies has mainly been focused on impacts and consequences, while the emerging framework of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) focuses rather on increased involvement and reflexivity in research processes to foster science and technology that better answers the needs of society. I argue that philosophy of science should be a central feature of RRI and demonstrate how the philosophy of science can contribute in this sense. I show how investigating basic assumptions in research, here exemplified by reductive assumptions in causal modeling, can have important ethical and societal implications.
{"title":"The role of philosophy of science in Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI): the case of nanomedicine.","authors":"Gry Oftedal","doi":"10.1186/s40504-014-0005-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-014-0005-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Research on ethical, legal and social aspects (ELSA) of life sciences and new technologies has mainly been focused on impacts and consequences, while the emerging framework of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) focuses rather on increased involvement and reflexivity in research processes to foster science and technology that better answers the needs of society. I argue that philosophy of science should be a central feature of RRI and demonstrate how the philosophy of science can contribute in this sense. I show how investigating basic assumptions in research, here exemplified by reductive assumptions in causal modeling, can have important ethical and societal implications. </p>","PeriodicalId":37861,"journal":{"name":"Life Sciences, Society and Policy","volume":"10 ","pages":"5"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2014-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40504-014-0005-8","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"33272477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-12-01Epub Date: 2014-06-27DOI: 10.1186/s40504-014-0014-7
Fulya Batur, Tom Dedeurwaerdere
Focused on the impact of stringent intellectual property mechanisms over the uses of plant agricultural biodiversity in crop improvement, the article delves into a systematic analysis of the relationship between institutional paradigms and their technological contexts of application, identified as mass selection, controlled hybridisation, molecular breeding tools and transgenics. While the strong property paradigm has proven effective in the context of major leaps forward in genetic engineering, it faces a systematic breakdown when extended to mass selection, where innovation often displays a collective nature. However, it also creates partial blockages in those innovation schemes rested between on-farm observation and genetic modification, i.e. conventional plant breeding and upstream molecular biology research tools. Neither overly strong intellectual property rights, nor the absence of well delineated protection have proven an optimal fit for these two intermediary socio-technological systems of cumulative incremental innovation. To address these challenges, the authors look at appropriate institutional alternatives which can create effective incentives for in situ agrobiodiversity conservation and the equitable distribution of technologies in plant improvement, using the flexibilities of the TRIPS Agreement, the liability rules set forth in patents or plant variety rights themselves (in the form of farmers', breeders' and research exceptions), and other ad hoc reward regimes.
{"title":"The use of agrobiodiversity for plant improvement and the intellectual property paradigm: institutional fit and legal tools for mass selection, conventional and molecular plant breeding.","authors":"Fulya Batur, Tom Dedeurwaerdere","doi":"10.1186/s40504-014-0014-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-014-0014-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Focused on the impact of stringent intellectual property mechanisms over the uses of plant agricultural biodiversity in crop improvement, the article delves into a systematic analysis of the relationship between institutional paradigms and their technological contexts of application, identified as mass selection, controlled hybridisation, molecular breeding tools and transgenics. While the strong property paradigm has proven effective in the context of major leaps forward in genetic engineering, it faces a systematic breakdown when extended to mass selection, where innovation often displays a collective nature. However, it also creates partial blockages in those innovation schemes rested between on-farm observation and genetic modification, i.e. conventional plant breeding and upstream molecular biology research tools. Neither overly strong intellectual property rights, nor the absence of well delineated protection have proven an optimal fit for these two intermediary socio-technological systems of cumulative incremental innovation. To address these challenges, the authors look at appropriate institutional alternatives which can create effective incentives for in situ agrobiodiversity conservation and the equitable distribution of technologies in plant improvement, using the flexibilities of the TRIPS Agreement, the liability rules set forth in patents or plant variety rights themselves (in the form of farmers', breeders' and research exceptions), and other ad hoc reward regimes. </p>","PeriodicalId":37861,"journal":{"name":"Life Sciences, Society and Policy","volume":"10 ","pages":"14"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2014-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40504-014-0014-7","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"33277749","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-11-06DOI: 10.1186/s40504-014-0017-4
A. Rip
{"title":"The past and future of RRI","authors":"A. Rip","doi":"10.1186/s40504-014-0017-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40504-014-0017-4","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37861,"journal":{"name":"Life Sciences, Society and Policy","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2014-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1186/s40504-014-0017-4","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"65689485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}