Sharing Traditional Knowledge: Who benefits? Cases from India, Nigeria, Mexico and South Africa

Ownership and human tissue – the legal conundrum: A response to Jordaan’s critique

“…In fact, the 'altruistic paradigm' to which Jordaan refers is in itself questionable, as the historical exploitation of research participants in Africa is a glaring reality. [19][20][21] The fact that Troug et al [22] do not specifically advocate a profit-sharing model is not a point that the authors of the original article were trying to make. Truog et al [22] recommend, in light of the Moore decision [14] and other legal precedents, that individuals do not retain property ownership over removed tissues: [2] 'a plausible rationale for justifying such payments is that they are made in exchange for the performance of a service, rather than for the transfer of property' .…”

Benefit sharing in health research

“…This was part of an ongoing collaborative project by researchers from the universities of Nairobi and Manitoba. [6,7] The women were extremely socioeconomically disadvantaged and unable to access quality healthcare in any other way than through their involvement in the clinic which was set up by the research team. [8] The women provided individual informed consent to participate in the ongoing study which utilised their blood, cervical, vaginal and saliva samples.…”

“…[8] The women provided individual informed consent to participate in the ongoing study which utilised their blood, cervical, vaginal and saliva samples. [7,8] The Kenyan regulatory environment includes access to nonhuman genetic resources and subsequent benefit sharing thereof. However, no regulation or policy existed in respect of human genetic resources.…”

“…However, no regulation or policy existed in respect of human genetic resources. [7,9] were developed in specific response to the Majengo case. These guidelines provide a framework for addressing issues of financial compensation for research participants through Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) and Research and Development Agree ments.…”

“…These guidelines provide a framework for addressing issues of financial compensation for research participants through Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) and Research and Development Agree ments. [7,9] The guideline's MTA template provides for the 'fair and equitable sharing of benefits' derived from the use of biological materials. [10] An argument has been made that benefit sharing agreements could effectively be incorporated into the cooperative research and development agreements.…”