Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
future, our capacity to rely on the contribution of microbial cultures to the production of
active compounds could increase.
Scientific research conducted in sensitive environments, including in the deep sea,
and on vulnerable ecosystems such as seamounts, may call for voluntary codes of conduct
for responsible marine scientific research. Examples are provided by the InterRidge and
Diversa (now Verenium) Corporation codes of conduct .
The InterRidge Statement ofCommitment toResponsible Research Practices at Deep-
seaHydrothermalVentsisavoluntarycodeofconductforresponsibleresearchpracticesby
scientists involved in research on deep-sea hydrothermal vent fauna and environments. The
statement includes guidelines on: avoiding research activities with deleterious impacts on
the sustainability of populations of hydrothermal vent organisms; avoiding research activ-
ities that lead to long-lasting and significant alteration and/or visual degradation of vent
sites; avoiding collections that are not essential to the conduct of scientific research; avoid-
ing transplanting biota or geological material between sites; being familiar with the status
ofcurrentandplannedresearch(throughtheInterRidgeandotherpublicdomaindatabases)
in an area and avoiding activities that will compromise experiments or observations of oth-
er researchers; facilitating the fullest possible use of all biological, chemical, and geologic-
al samples collected through collaborations and cooperation amongst the global commu-
nity of scientists; and reaffirming commitment to open international sharing of data, ideas,
and samples in order to avoid unnecessary re-sampling and impact on hydrothermal vents,
and to further our global understanding of these habitats (InterRidge,
2014
).
In 2005, the San Diego-based private company Diversa Corporation developed a
framework model for 'ethical bioprospecting'. The model entailed participating countries,
institutions, and stakeholders sharing equitably the benefits of the bioprospecting opera-
tions, on the basis of securing legal access to both terrestrial and marine biodiversity, in-
cluding through the application of Prior Informed Consent (PIC) (see Christoffersen and
Mathur,
2005
). Subsequently, Diversa Corporation became Verenium Corporation. The lat-
ter continues to apply the ethical model for accessing genetic resources, including in re-
lation to deep-sea organisms (both Diversa Corporation and Verenium Corporation have
