Since it took effect, the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity has been marred by disputes between developing and developed countries over access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits derived from those resources. Developing countries have doubted the willingness of developed nations to share the commercial fruits of new medicines and agricultural products created from their plants, fungi and pathogens. This has impeded the creation of bioprospecting rules and regulations and, as a result, hindered biochemical research involving material from Latin America, home to at least 40% of the planet’s biodiversity. So when the chair of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity brought down his gavel Oct. 30 to end the meeting in Nagoya, Japan, with... [Log in to read more]