Access and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources

Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) constitutes a global framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Nagoya Protocol, aiming to govern the fair and equitable use of genetic resources. ABS encompasses the right of provider countries and indigenous communities to grant Prior Informed Consent (PIC) for access to biological materials and to negotiate Mutually Agreed Terms (MAT) that ensure tangible and intangible benefits from downstream utilisation. The regime applies to physical specimens—from plant, animal, microbial and marine resources—as well as to intangible sequence data. Supported by national ABS legislation, researchers and industry actors navigate complex regulatory landscapes to secure access, while equatorial and biodiversity-rich nations leverage benefit-sharing to support conservation, sustainable development and traditional knowledge holders. Recent decades have witnessed debates over the scope of genetic resources, particularly regarding Digital Sequence Information (DSI) and its implications for open-access data repositories. Policy fora have striven for harmonisation to avoid legal fragmentation and to foster collaborative research, technology transfer and capacity-building. Real-world case studies—from agricultural biological control to benefit-sharing agreements with indigenous communities—illustrate both opportunities and challenges in operationalising ABS principles. As biotechnology and synthetic biology advance, ongoing efforts aim to refine definitions, streamline ABS procedures and ensure that benefit-sharing mechanisms remain adaptive, equitable and supportive of both biodiversity conservation and scientific innovation.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have proposed multilateral benefit-sharing mechanisms that decouple data access from bilateral negotiations, thereby safeguarding both open science and biodiversity conservation. A 2024 analysis highlights the need for harmonised rules across UN frameworks to align open access to digital sequence information with equitable benefit-sharing outcomes, emphasising interoperable data platforms and coordinated policy instruments. Earlier work has modelled a multilateral system under the Convention on Biological Diversity that redistributes financial and non-financial benefits from global sequence databases, offering practical pathways to maintain open-access sequencing while generating funds for in situ conservation and capacity-building in provider countries. Together, these contributions chart a path to reconcile data-driven research with the core principles of fair and equitable sharing.

Access and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in access and benefit sharing of genetic resources across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS): The set of international and national rules governing access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation.

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): A multilateral environmental treaty established in 1993 that sets out objectives for biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing.

Nagoya Protocol: A supplementary agreement to the CBD, in force since 2014, providing legal clarity on ABS procedures, including requirements for PIC and MAT.

Digital Sequence Information (DSI): Genetic sequence data derived from biological resources, often stored and shared in digital form, raising implications for ABS governance.

Prior Informed Consent (PIC): The requirement that providers of genetic resources grant authorisation for access based on full disclosure of intended use.

Mutually Agreed Terms (MAT): Contractual provisions negotiated between resource providers and users that specify benefit-sharing arrangements and usage conditions.

References

1. Harmonize rules for digital sequence information benefit-sharing across UN frameworks. Nature Communications (2024).
2. Disruptive data: How access and benefit-sharing discourses structured ideas and decisions during the Convention on Biological Diversity negotiations over digital sequence information from 2016 to 2022. Global Environmental Change (2024).
3. Implementation of access and benefit-sharing measures has consequences for classical biological control of weeds. BioControl (2019).
4. Multilateral benefit-sharing from digital sequence information will support both science and biodiversity conservation. Nature Communications (2022).
5. Biological control and the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing – a case of effective due diligence. Biocontrol Science and Technology (2018).
6. The Rooibos Benefit Sharing Agreement–Breaking New Ground with Respect, Honesty, Fairness, and Care. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (2019).