Multilateral benefit-sharing from digital sequence information will support both science and biodiversity conservation

Open access to sequence data is a cornerstone of biology and biodiversity research, but has created tension under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Policy decisions could compromise research and development, unless a practical multilateral solution is implemented. Ensuring international benefit-sharing from sequence data without jeopardising open sharing is a major obstacle for the Convention on Biological Diversity and other UN negotiations. Here, the authors propose a solution to address the concerns of both developing countries and life scientists.

Automated summary

Open access to sequence data is crucial for biology and biodiversity research, but it has caused tension under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Finding a practical solution to ensure international benefit-sharing without jeopardising open sharing is a major challenge for the CBD and other UN negotiations.