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Cuscovians banish biopirates

Posted on behalf of Emma Marrispirate-color.jpg

The inhabitants of Cusco, Peru, are notoriously protective of their region’s indigenous flora and fauna. In July 2007, they banned GM potatoes, fearing that they might contaminate the many native varieties that grow there. The Andes, you see, were among the birthplaces of the potato.

Now comes a report that the Cuscovians—if that is the proper term—have outlawed “biopiracy” in their region. Biopiracy generally means something like “the plundering of native species for commercial gain, including patenting resources or the genes they contain,” as the SciDev.Net article puts it. Sounds reasonable.

It is a concept not without its critics, however. A few years ago, scientists working in the Brazilian Amazon complained that biopiracy fears made it impossible for them to ship biological samples out of the country for analysis. And this year a proposed entomological survey of the Western Ghats Mountains in India failed for the same reason.

For a great long form article about biopiracy in Peru, read Viagra Natural, from the now-defunct Legal Affairs.

Top image: City of Tempe.

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