ABSTRACT
There have been several papers written describing the approach of the research team working on the Panama ICBG, as a bioprospecting project framed quite broadly so as to contribute to conservation and development as per the intent of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) access and benefit sharing (ABS) articles. The ICBG requires memoranda of understanding between the partners of all its projects, and thus the Panama project has a similar agreement to that already discussed regarding the Madagascar and PNG ICBG projects. The project has focused on building research capacity in Panama, through training of young scientists, infrastructure enhancement and support for senior scientists to conduct research. All incoming monies are split such that 50 per cent goes to the institution in Panama which makes the discovery and 50 per cent to the club of collaborators, who get equal shares. The major positive impact from the project is towards building a drug discovery research program in Panama.
