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From frameworks to finance: how sharing benefits from the use of digital sequence information can evolve to contribute to biodiversity conservation

Nature Biotechnology volume 43, pages 1599–1602 (2025)Cite this article

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The COP16 decision established a multilateral mechanism for digital sequence information (DSI) benefit-sharing. This Comment brings together insights from academia and commercial DSI researchers to assess what has been accomplished so far, identify remaining challenges and describe elements under discussion to support collective goals.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank J. Perrettson, head of partnerships & external engagement at Novonesis, for critical reading of this manuscript and constructive suggestions. A.H.S. was supported by the German Alliance of Scientific Organization’s project “Access and Benefit Sharing Information Platform.” M.J. acknowledges the European Union’s Horizon Europe Programme under grant agreement no. 101082304 (BlueRemediomics). UK partners are supported by UKRI under the UK Government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee grant no. IFS 10057167 (University of Aberdeen).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Novonesis, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

    Charlotte Blom

  2. Marine Biodiscovery Centre, Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK

    Marcel Jaspars

  3. Bayer Crop Science, Almeria, Spain

    Jasmina Muminovic Rilak

  4. Science Policy & Internationalization Department, Leibniz Institute DSMZ German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Braunschweig, Germany

    Amber Hartman Scholz

Authors
  1. Charlotte Blom
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  2. Marcel Jaspars
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  3. Jasmina Muminovic Rilak
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  4. Amber Hartman Scholz
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the ideas presented in this article and contributed to the writing and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amber Hartman Scholz.

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Competing interests

M.J. and A.H.S. are members of the DSI Scientific Network. M.J. is co-lead of the Marine Genetic Resources Working group of the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative and a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas of the IUCN. A.H.S. is on the leadership team of the IUCN Microbial Conservation Specialist Group. C.B. is employed by Novonesis and serves as co-lead of the DSI subgroup in the ABS Task Force of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). J.M.R. is employed by Bayer Crop Science and serves as chair of the ABS Task Force of the ICC, as well as chair of the Coordination Group on Genetic Resources of the International Seed Federation (ISF). All authors are writing in their personal capacities. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of these groups, institutions and organizations.

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Blom, C., Jaspars, M., Muminovic Rilak, J. et al. From frameworks to finance: how sharing benefits from the use of digital sequence information can evolve to contribute to biodiversity conservation. Nat Biotechnol 43, 1599–1602 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-025-02820-8

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