![]() Indonesian researchers called it an example of Western “helicopter science.”. In 2018, for instance, a dispute erupted over a genetic study of Sulawesi’s “sea nomads”-an indigenous fishing group that appears to have evolved bigger spleens to store oxygenated blood during long dives. Failure to comply with the MTA requirements is punishable by 2 years in prison or a $145,000 fine.Indonesia has become increasingly concerned about biopiracy. Scientists who fail to obtain a proper permit will be blacklisted for 5 years repeat offenders risk a $290,000 fine. In most cases, violators will lose their research permit, but some offenses carry steeper penalties. Researchers can’t take samples or even digital information out of the country, except for tests that cannot be done in Indonesian labs, and to do so, they need a so-called material transfer agreement (MTA) using a template provided by the government. The law’s most contentious provisions, however, are those that apply to foreign researchers.įrom now on, their research has to be “beneficial for Indonesia.” They need to get ethical clearance from an Indonesian review board for every study, submit primary data and published papers to the government, involve Indonesian scientists as equal partners, and share any benefits, such as the proceeds from new drugs, resulting from the study. ![]() Details still need to be fleshed out, but some scientists worry the new agency will concentrate too much power in a few hands. ![]() The new law also establishes the National Research Agency, a giant new institution that may subsume most government research centers, including the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) in Jakarta. Indeed, marine biologist Philippe Borsa of the French Research Institute for Development in Montpellier says the law-and an increasingly unfriendly climate for foreign researchers-is a reason for him not to return to Indonesia, where he has studied the phylogeography of stingrays. ![]() “Our international collaborations will be stifled,” says Berry Juliandi, a biologist at Bogor Agricultural University and secretary of the Indonesian Young Academy of Science. But some Indonesian scientists fear the consequences. Muhammad Dimyati, director-general of research development at Indonesia’s Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education (commonly known as RISTEK) in Jakarta, says the law is needed to protect Indonesia’s natural resources and develop the country’s research enterprise. The legislation includes strict requirements on foreign scientists doing research in Indonesia, including the need to recruit local collaborators and a near-ban on exporting specimens, along with stiff sanctions, including jail time, for violators. But a law adopted on 16 July 2019 by Indonesia’s parliament may convince some to go elsewhere. Indonesia‘s rich biodiversity and complex geology have lured scientists from abroad for centuries. South African scientists demand the return of hundreds of tribal DNA samples after a British institute was accused of trying to use them to make money, Daily Mail, Oct. ‘This conduct of the Wellcome Sanger Institute raises serious legal and ethical consequences. Participants were reportedly told samples would only be used to study ‘population history and human evolution.’… The Stellenbosch University in South Africa reportedly wrote that it had provided DNA samples from the Nama people ‘to be used solely for research purposes.’ ‘It was recently brought to attention that the Wellcome Sanger Institute intends to proceed with commercialisation of the research, data and Nama DNA,’ they continued. The samples were shared under so-called ‘material transfer arrangements.’ DNA donors included members of indigenous communities - such as the Nama people of Botswana, Namibia, Uganda, and South Africa. The DNA samples were collected by various African universities and the Lebanese American University in Beirutl. Critics argued the people who donated the samples – members of indigenous communities such as the Nama people – did not consent to it being used this way. They said staff there planned to build a medical research tool, gene chips, based on the DNA, which it could then have sold commercially.Īs a result the Stellenbosch University in Western Cape has called for the Sanger Institute to return the DNA samples to the African universities it got them from. Whistleblowers who formerly worked at the Cambridge-based Wellcome Sanger Institute claimed in October 2019 the institute wanted to use the DNA samples it obtained from universities across Africa to make money.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |