Potential impacts of Antarctic bioprospecting and associated commercial activities upon Antarctic science and scientists

The Antarctic Treaty and associated agreements have little to say specifically on bioprospecting activities within the Treaty area. Consequently, Antarctic bioprospecting has elicited much debate within the Antarctic community, particularly on issues such as benefit sharing between Antarctic Treaty parties, the free availability of scientific data originating in Antarctica and the potential environmental impacts. However, the effect of a further increase in Antarctic bioprospecting activity on Antarctic science, and biologists in particular, in the absence of internationally agreed regulation may deserve further consideration. In this paper we discuss some of the potential issues bioprospecting may present to the Antarctic science community including science funding, personal gain, international scientific collaboration and interactions with industrial partners.

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