Genomic encyclopedia of bacteria and archaea: sequencing a myriad of type strains.

Microbes hold the key to life. They hold the secrets to our past (as the descendants of the earliest forms of life) and the prospects for our future (as we mine their genes for solutions to some of the planet's most pressing problems, from global warming to antibiotic resistance). However, the piecemeal approach that has defined efforts to study microbial genetic diversity for over 20 years and in over 30,000 genome projects risks squandering that promise. These efforts have covered less than 20% of the diversity of the cultured archaeal and bacterial species, which represent just 15% of the overall known prokaryotic diversity. Here we call for the funding of a systematic effort to produce a comprehensive genomic catalog of all cultured Bacteria and Archaea by sequencing, where available, the type strain of each species with a validly published name (currently∼11,000). This effort will provide an unprecedented level of coverage of our planet's genetic diversity, allow for the large-scale discovery of novel genes and functions, and lead to an improved understanding of microbial evolution and function in the environment.

Global scientific research commons under the Nagoya Protocol: Towards a collaborative economy model for the sharing of basic research assets.

This paper aims to get a better understanding of the motivational and transaction cost features of building global scientific research commons, with a view to contributing to the debate on the design of appropriate policy measures under the recently adopted Nagoya Protocol. For this purpose, the paper analyses the results of a world-wide survey of managers and users of microbial culture collections, which focused on the role of social and internalized motivations, organizational networks and external incentives in promoting the public availability of upstream research assets. Overall, the study confirms the hypotheses of the social production model of information and shareable goods, but it also shows the need to complete this model. For the sharing of materials, the underlying collaborative economy in excess capacity plays a key role in addition to the social production, while for data, competitive pressures amongst scientists tend to play a bigger role.

The role of network bridging organisations in compensation payments for agri-environmental services under the EU Common Agricultural Policy.

Compensation payments to farmers for the provision of agri-environmental services are a well-established policy scheme under the EU Common Agricultural Policy. However, in spite of the success in most EU countries in the uptake of the programme by farmers, the impact of the scheme on the long term commitment of farmers to change their practices remains poorly documented. To explore this issue, this paper presents the results of structured field interviews and a quantitative survey in the Walloon Region of Belgium. The main finding of this study is that farmers who have periodic contacts with network bridging organisations that foster cooperation and social learning in the agri-environmental landscapes show a higher commitment to change. This effect is observed both for farmers with high and low concern for biodiversity depletion. Support for network bridging organisations is foreseen under the EU Leader programme and the EU regulation 1306/2013, which could open-up interesting opportunities for enhancing the effectiveness of the current payment scheme for agri-environmental services.

The heterogeneity of public ex situ collections of microorganisms: Empirical evidence about conservation practices, industry spillovers and public goods.

Public service (ex situ) micro-organism collections serve to secure genetic resources for unforeseen future needs, and importantly, to provide authenticated biomaterials for contemporaneous use in private and public entities and as upstream research materials. Hence, it is important to understand the functioning and strategic decisions of these providers of public good resources. The existing literature tends to use case studies of individual collections. This paper uses a unique worldwide survey of microbial collections to analyse the heterogeneity among culture collections, and to empirically assess the economic and institutional conditions that contribute to this heterogeneity with respect to conservation choice and associated industry spillovers. Results suggest that in the short run public-private partnerships may indeed support knowledge accumulation with particularly strong public good properties. It is important to be aware of this strong tie, in order to steer also the long term conservation patrimony into one that offers not only short term usability but also resilience to future unforeseen needs e.g. of emerging crop plagues.

The use of agrobiodiversity for plant improvement and the intellectual property paradigm: institutional fit and legal tools for mass selection, conventional and molecular plant breeding.

Focused on the impact of stringent intellectual property mechanisms over the uses of plant agricultural biodiversity in crop improvement, the article delves into a systematic analysis of the relationship between institutional paradigms and their technological contexts of application, identified as mass selection, controlled hybridisation, molecular breeding tools and transgenics. While the strong property paradigm has proven effective in the context of major leaps forward in genetic engineering, it faces a systematic breakdown when extended to mass selection, where innovation often displays a collective nature. However, it also creates partial blockages in those innovation schemes rested between on-farm observation and genetic modification, i.e. conventional plant breeding and upstream molecular biology research tools. Neither overly strong intellectual property rights, nor the absence of well delineated protection have proven an optimal fit for these two intermediary socio-technological systems of cumulative incremental innovation. To address these challenges, the authors look at appropriate institutional alternatives which can create effective incentives for in situ agrobiodiversity conservation and the equitable distribution of technologies in plant improvement, using the flexibilities of the TRIPS Agreement, the liability rules set forth in patents or plant variety rights themselves (in the form of farmers', breeders' and research exceptions), and other ad hoc reward regimes.

Global microbial commons: institutional challenges for the global exchange and distribution of microorganisms in the life sciences.

Exchanges of microorganisms between culture collections, laboratories and researchers worldwide have historically occurred in an informal way. These informal exchanges have facilitated research activities, and, as a consequence, our knowledge and exploitation of microbial resources have advanced rapidly. During the last decades of the twentieth century, the increasing economic importance of biotechnology and the introduction of new legislation concerning the use of and access to biological resources has subjected exchanges of genetic resources to greater controls. Their access and distribution are more strictly regulated and, therefore, exchanges are becoming more and more formalized. This paper analyzes one of the main drivers of the movement toward more formal worldwide exchange regimes, which is increasing global interdependency of access to genetic resources. Its main finding is that formalization of exchange practices as such is not necessarily leading to more restrictive licensing conditions. The goal of further formalization and harmonization of institutional frameworks should therefore be to provide the broadest possible access to essential research materials (within the constraints set by biosecurity and quality management requirements), while maximizing the reciprocity benefits of access and exchange (which motivate the exchange practices to start with).

Understanding patterns of use and scientific opportunities in the emerging global microbial commons.

Rapidly growing global networking has induced and supported an increased interest in the life sciences in such general issues as health, climate change, food security and biodiversity. Therefore, the need to address and share research data and materials in a systematic way emerged almost simultaneously. This movement has been described as the so-called global research commons. Also in microbiology, where the sharing of microbiological materials is a key issue, microbial commons is attracting attention. Microbiology is currently facing great challenges with the advances of high throughput screening and next-generation whole genome sequencing. Furthermore, the exploration and use of microorganisms in agriculture and food production are increasing so as to safeguard global food and feed production. Further to several meetings on the subject, a special issue of Research in Microbiology is dedicated to Microbial Research Commons with a series of reviews elaborating its major pay-offs and needs in basic and applied microbiology. This paper gives an introduction to these articles covering a range of topics. These include the role of public culture collections and biological resource centers and legal aspects in the exchange of materials, microbial classification, an internet-based platform for data-sharing, applications in agriculture and food production, and challenges in metagenomics and extremophile research.

The science commons in life science research: structure, function, and value of access to genetic diversity.

Innovation in the life sciences depends on how much information is produced as well as how widely and easily it is shared. Policies governing the science commons - or alternative, more restricted informational spaces - determine how widely and quickly information is distributed. The purpose of this paper is to highlight why the science commons matters and to analyse its structure and function. The main lesson from our analysis is that both the characteristics of the physical resources (from genes to microbes, plants and animals) and the norms and beliefs of the different research communities - think of the Bermuda rules in the human genome case or the Belem declaration for bioprospecting - matter in the institutional choices made when organising the science commons. We also show that the science commons contributes to solving some of the collective action dilemmas that arise in the production of knowledge in Pasteur's Quadrant, when information is both scientifically important and practically applicable. We show the importance of two of these dilemmas for the life sciences, which we call respectively the diffusion-innovation dilemma (how readily innovation diffuses) and the exploration-exploitation dilemma (when application requires collective action).