ABSTRACT
Biodiversity research and prospecting take place today amid rapid technological change, increasing the globalization of scientific and economic activity, as well as considerable legal uncertainty. Therefore, as we have seen, the establishment and implementation of equitable research relationships are daunting tasks that span a wide range of ethical, legal, economic, technological, scientific and institutional issues. Technological and scientific advances have resulted in expanded commercial applications for genetic resources and traditional knowledge, changed the way materials can be used and, in some cases, increased the difficulty in tracking resources through the commercial cycle (see Chapter 8). As genetic resources have become increasingly commodified, claims of ownership over them have expanded and intensified, largely through wider applications of evolving intellectual property rights.
