Biopiracy

This article offers an overview of the concept of biopiracy, along with a few examples of the same.

Have you ever gone on a treasure hunt? You might have read pirate stories involving adventures of finding (or rather, stealing) shiny chests full of gold, precious gems, and other valuable items. However, some types of treasure may not be in the form of gold - but there are still people who want to steal them.

Biopiracy is a type of theft of natural, or biological resources. Typically, this happens when a wealthy nation or company tries to make a profit selling something that other (usually poorer) people have used for centuries. This is considered unethical, or similar to stealing, because these profits are not shared with the people who discovered or developed these resources in the first place. On top of that, companies often take legal action that prevents anyone else from using or benefitting from the resources.

Think of it this way - imagine your grandmother has a special way of making garam masala at home. It is so tasty that lots of your friends and relatives regularly visit her to get some of it for their own use. If a company were to suddenly patent this specific masala mix, not only would your grandmother be unable to make or distribute it anymore, she would also have to pay money to buy it for her own use. Wouldn't that be really unfair?

Do you add turmeric to your dishes when cooking? Have you ever been told to chew on some cloves to cure a toothache? There are several practices that we do, often without a second thought, that is actually ancient knowledge that our ancestors discovered and passed on. While we might take them for granted, some organizations have tried to take advantage of them.

In $1995$‍, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted two scientists a patent for their work on the healing properties of turmeric. This was an extremely controversial decision that was promptly challenged by the Indian government. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) proved that turmeric had been used in India as a natural remedy for centuries, and the patent was eventually cancelled.

Several patents have been filed for the use of neem bark, seed, or other extracts. One famous case in the $1990$‍s involved a European patent for the use of neem as a fungicidal agent. The Indian government and several other groups argued that the medicinal advantages of neem have long been a part of traditional Indian medicines, and got the patent revoked after years of legal battles. Other patents for neem products still exist.

In $1997$‍, an American company was granted a patent for a hybrid form of Basmati rice. This was a hard blow to farmers in India and Pakistan, who would no longer be able to export their own Basmati variants to western countries. Following a heated legal battle, the company withdrew most of its claims in the early $2000$‍s, and was granted a narrower patent to sell a specific variant of rice.

As you can see from the above examples, biopiracy is a serious issue that involves the exploitation of indigenous practices and people for the benefit of large corporations or countries. One way to tackle this issue is by ensuring there are laws to protect such local customs. In India, activists and politicians are writing laws to try and safeguard traditional knowledge and Indian farmers. Additionally, research institutes like CSIR (mentioned in the above section) are studying local plants and their benefits by natives in order to document their potential uses.