MOSAICS Development of a system for appropriate management of access to and transfer of microbiological resources

Contents

Project Description
Participants
Documents & Reports
Coordination & contact

Project description

Culture collections of micro-organisms are important interfaces between providers and users of microbiological resources. They:

conserve our microbial heritage
preserve more than 1.000.000 cultures
supply authentic cultures
offer valuable services
act as reference centres
make microbiological material and related information available for all kind of scientific, industrial, and educational purposes.

Culture collections thus face primarily scientific and technical challenges, but must also overcome legal and administrative hurdles to give appropriate access to microbiological resources.

The legal and administrative challenges

Culture collections wonder how to implement in an efficient way, and at affordable cost, the numerous and diverse international, supra-national, and national rules regulating the flows and uses of biological resources, from the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to the application of intellectual property rights (IPR). In addition, security concerns now require extra attention and appropriate precautions.

To address this concern, a consortium of fifteen microbiological resources providers and users, coordinated by the Belgian Coordinated Collections of Micro-organisms (BCCM), has launched the MOSAICS project in 2004. MOSAICS stands for “Microorganisms Sustainable use and Access management Integrated Conveyance System”. It is funded by the Directorate General Research of the European Commission, under the Sixth Framework Program, in the scope of the Food Quality and Safety priority. The consortium of the MOSAICS project is made of partners from developed and developing countries, including culture collections, international organizations, branch federations and specialized research institutes.

MOSAICS, three key issues - three parts

Already in 1999, before MOSAICS, the Directorate General Research supported a project, MOSAICC, to develop a code of conduct as a practical tool for microbiologists to implement the CBD. This project was also coordinated by the Belgian Coordinated Collections of Micro-organisms (BCCM) and has identified three necessary features for a system to implement coherently the CBD provisions on Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS), IPR and other relevant regulations concerning access and use of (micro)biological resources.

MOSAICS central objective is the development of such an integrated conveyance system that:

has reliable tools to evaluate the economic value of microbiological resources (EVA)
disposes of validated model documents with standard provisions to enable tracking via an uncomplicated procedure, widely applied by microbiologists (ADAM)
combines valuation and tracking in one system for trading of microbiological resources, with balanced benefit sharing for those that are entitled to be rewarded for the services and products they provide to society (ICS)

Economic valuation of microbiological resources (EVA)

Whatever form benefit sharing takes, there is a need for reliable methods to value the (micro) biological resources, since benefit sharing presupposes that there is an agreement on the value of the exchanged goods. At present time, documentation on economic valuation of microbiological resources can hardly be found. Methods applied to other natural resources are tested to check their validity for use with microbiological resources.

Material Transfer Agreement with standard contents (ADAM)

To abide by the CBD rules of access and to enable benefit sharing to take place, the key issue is tracking of (micro) biological resources. The MOSAICS procedure can be summarized as follows: register the source of the (micro) biological resource and track it up to its end destination. MOSAICS proposes standard contents for transfer documents, usually called Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), that register the original source and specify the conditions of transfer. MOSAICS work takes into consideration the activities in and around the CBD bodies, and other international initiatives related with management of resources such as the OECD Biological Resources Centers (BRC) Task Force, and the development of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

Easy procedure for transfer of microbiological resources - Integrated Conveyance System (ICS)

Documents like MTAs already exist; the main contribution of MOSAICS is to get more uniformity in their contents and to define the minimum set of information. MOSAICS also aims at organizing the electronic handling of these digitalized documents combined with identification codes, to enable fast, cost-effective, and reliable management of the (micro)biological resources and to provide the information related to their transfer to the rightful stakeholders. Such a system is not a direct control tool. Systems like MOSAICS can help culture collections and biotechnological industries in gaining competitive advantage in bio-prospecting activities.

Participants

Participant Nr	Participant name	Participant short name	Address	Contact person
1	Public Planning Service- Science Policy	PPS-SP/ BCCM	Rue de la Science 8 1000 Brussels Belgium	Mr. Philippe Desmeth Phone: +32 2 238 37 13 Fax: +32 2 230 59 12 E-mail: desp@belspo.be URL: www.belspo.be/bccm
2	CABI Bioscience UK Centre	CABI	Bakeham Lane TW20 9TY Egham, Surrey United Kingdom	Dr. David Smith Phone: +44 1491 82 90 46 Fax: +44 1491 82 91 00 E-mail: d.smith@cabi.org URL: www.cabi-bioscience.org
3	Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures	CBS/KNAW	Uppsalalaan 8 PO Box 85167 3508 AD Utrecht Netherlands	Dr. Joost Stalpers Phone: +31 30 21 22 600 Fax: +31 30 25 12 097 E-mail: stalpers@cbs.knaw.nl URL: www.cbs.knaw.nl
4	Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique	CNRST	Boulevard Omar Ibn Khattab 52 BP: 8027 10102 Rabat - Agdal Morocco	Prof. Mohamed Amar Phone: +212 37 77 86 76 E-mail: amar@cnr.ac.ma URL: www.ccmm.ac.ma
5	Catholic University of Peru	CUP	Av. Universitaria cdra. 18 s/n Lima Peru	Prof. Ana Maria Pacón Phone: +51 1 448 30 10 E-mail: ampacon@aol.com URL: www.pucp.edu.pe
6	Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen	DSMZ	Mascheroder Weg 1B 38124 Braunschweig Germany	Dr. Vera Weihs Phone: +49 531 26 16 254 Fax: +49 531 26 16 225 E-mail: vew@dsmz.de URL: www.dsmz.de
7	European Federation of Biotechnology	EFB	Altenbergrain 21 3013 Bern Swiss	Prof. Klaus Amman Phone: +41 316 314 937 Fax: +41 316 314 993 E-mail: klaus.amman@ips.unibe.ch URL: www.botanischergarten.ch
8	Bioresource Collection & Research Center, Food Industry Research & Development Institute	FIRDI	P.O. Box 246 Shih-Pin Road 331 30099 Hsinchu Taiwan, R.O.C.	Ms. Yu-Fen Chen Phone: +886 3 52 23 191 ext 233 E-mail: yfc@firdi.org.tw URL: www.firdi.org.tw
9	Japan Bioindustry Association	JBA	Grand Building 8F 26-9 Hatchobori 2 – Chome – Chuo-ku Tokyo Japan	Dr. Seizo Sumida Phone: +81 3 55 41 27 31 Fax: +81 55 41 27 37 E-mail: sumida@jba.or.jp URL: www.jba.or.jp
10	Korean Institute for International Economic Policy	KIEP	300-4 Yomgok-Dong Seocho-Gu 137-747 Seoul R. Korea	Dr. Mikyung Yung Phone: +822 34 60 11 82 Fax: +822 34 60 11 33 E-mail: mkyun@kiep.go.kr URL: www.kiep.go.kr
11	UNESCO – Microbial Resources Centres Network	MIRCEN Int’l Organisation	Rue Miollis 1 75732 Cedex 15 Paris France	Miss Lucy Hoareau Phone: +33 1 456 83 895 Fax: +33 1 456 85 816 E-mail: l.hoareau@unesco.org URL: www.unesco.org
12	Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research	TISTR	35M 3 Technopolis Khlong 5 Khlong Luang 12120 Pathum Thani Thailand	Dr. Vullapa Arunpairojana Phone: +66 2 577 90 32 Fax: +66 2 577 90 31 E-mail: vullupa@tistr.or.th URL: www.tistr.or.th
13	University of Ljubljana - Fac. Natural Sciences & Engineering	UL	Askerceva 12 SI-1000-Ljubljana Slovenia	Prof. Bojana Boh Phone: +386 1 25 14 326 Fax: +386 1 42 58 684 E-mail: bojana.boh@ntf.uni-lj.si URL: www.kii.uni-lj.si/ntf-eng.html
14	United Nation University	UNU Int’l Organisation	Pacifico – Yokohama 1-1-1 Minato Mirai Nishi-ku 220-8502 Yokohama Japan	Phone: +81 45 221 23 00 / 10 Fax: +81 45 221 23 03 E-mail: tobin@ias.unu.edu URL: www.ias.unu.edu
15	World Federation for Cultures Collections	WFCC Int’l Union	Bakeham Lane TW20 9TY Egham, Surrey United Kingdom	Dr. David Smith Phone: +44 1491 82 90 46 Fax: +44 1491 82 91 00 E-mail: d.smith@cabi.org URL: www.cabi-bioscience.org

Participants description

Participant 1, the co-ordinator (PPS-SP - Federal Public Planning Service – Science Policy, Belgium) more precisely, the BCCM - Belgian Coordinated Collections of Micro-organisms funded by PPS-SP, has been BCCM will participate in the organisation of seminars, working groups meetings and electronic discussion forum. It will be involved in support activities of fact findings & monitoring, studies & analysis to the extent of its expertise gained in particular in the MOSAICC and WIPMICRO MOSAICC projects, as member of international scientific federations and as public administration for scientific affairs.

Participant 2 (CABI Bioscience, United Kingdom, Int’l) integrates four former international institutes, of Biological Control (IIBC), of Entomology (IIE), of Parasitology (IIP) and Mycology (IMI). It regroups scientists dedicated to agricultural sustainability and biological diversity. It operates from six centres worldwide, in Kenya, Malaysia, Trinidad, Pakistan, Switzerland and the UK, and offices in China, India and the USA. It has partnerships with many global organisations.

Participants 3 (CBS - Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, Netherlands) is an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). It maintains a world-renowned collection of living filamentous fungi, yeasts and bacteria. The research programs focus on taxonomy and on functional aspects of fungal biology and ecology, with specific expertise in fermented food. It is a centre of expertise, advising on mycological problems of food or health-related nature..

Participant 4 (CNRST - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique, Morocco) is a public institute of the Ministry of Scientific Research. It has recently supervised the set up of the Moroccan micro-biological resources centre and contributed to the development of appropriate laws on ABS and IPR in Morocco, with the support of BCCM. It hosts also the Moroccan internet facility “MARWAN”. In a synergetic effort with MOSAICS, it has hosted host an international training course in May 2004 where MOSAICS was be promoted in the context of legal framework development in southern countries.

Participant 5 (CUP - Catholic University of Peru, Peru), more specifically its School of Law has a unique expertise in ABS policy in Latin-America. The ANDEAN Pact laws concerning ABS represent one of the best structured legal frameworks on ABS, it must be taken into consideration when designing procedures and model documents for ABS. This participant was involved in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations, as Andean representative, including for ABS matters.

Participant 6 (DSMZ - Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen, Germany) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and distribution of bacteria, archaea, fungi, plasmids, phages, human and animal cell lines, plant cell cultures and plant viruses. It is recognized by the European Commission as Large Scale Facility within the Framework of the "Human Potential Programme - Access to Infrastructures". It offers facilities for research and training financed by EC Grants available to scientists from member states of the European Union and Associated States.

Participant 7 (EFB - European Federation of Biotechnology, Swiss, Int’l) will be active through its section on biodiversity that will relay information to and from EFB. The head of the Biodiversity section is also EFB executive board member. EFB counts presently 175 institutional members from 31 European and 7 Non-European countries. More than 3000 personal members from 37 European and 38 Non-European countries join EFB. Industry members will play an important role in all WP of EVa activity.

Participant 8 (FIRDI - Food Industry Research & Development Institute, R.O.C Taiwan) has expertise in agro-food industry; it is a key partner to help the consortium to focus on the specific needs of the Food Quality and Safety priority in the field of ABS. FIRDI is a non-profit legal entity with financial support from private and public institutions. This Institute helps to establish the general policy of food industry development and execute R&D services to the food industry (development of new technology, sanitation and quality of processed foods, etc) including training programs and seminars.

Participant 9 (JBA - Japan Bioindustry Association, Japan). JBA has a membership of about 300 industrial companies, 100 public organizations and 1300 individuals from universities, making JBA a forum on bioscience and industry. JBA functions as a think tank and platform for communication between scientists, technologist, policymakers and managers.

Participant 10 (KIEP – Korean Institute for International Economic Policy, R. Korea) is an autonomous, government funded, non-profit economic research institute. It carries out economic, international policy and co-operation studies, including on socialist economies in transition. It is also a National Research Centre on WTO DDA (Doha Development Agenda, for its expertise in world economic trends and economic policy issues.

Participant 11 (UNESCO – MIRCEN Microbial Resources Centres, Int’l Organisation) is a network of 34 academic and research centres in developed and developing countries. These centres participate in a global effort in sustainable use of microbial resources for human progress, through international scientific co-operation. The global MIRCEN network programme embodies research and training programmes that are carried out within the framework of UNESCO's regular programme activities.

Participant 12 (TISTR – Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, Thailand) is a public institution hosting the Bangkok MIRCEN (see Participant 12) that beside culture collections activities provides training courses and workshops. It has yet trained scientists from 11 countries and collaborates with the Asian Network on Microbial Research (ANMR) operating in 6 ASEAN countries. It has recently participated to the set up of the national mechanism for microbial diversity/collection management designed to facilitate access to, and dissemination/distribution of, microbial resources in and out the country.

Participant 13 (UL University of Ljubljana – Faculty of Natural Sciences & Engineering, Slovenia) hosts the Specialised Information Centre for Science (SICS) and the International Centre for Chemical Studies (ICCS). It is also a MIRCEN member. It has developed information methodology and its application in education and research. SICS is developing methodologies and tools for a co-ordinated data processing. ICCS is the focal point of an international network of more than 100 universities, private and public research institutes world-wide. It has yet organised more than 60 international expert meetings with participants from 80 countries. It has published numerous proceedings, including document “University-Industry-Government Co-operation: How to Make it Work?”.

Participants 14 (UNU- United Nation University, Int’l Organisation) is one of the twelve research and training centres within the UNU system. Its mission is to undertake research and postgraduate education on issues at the forefront of knowledge, policy development and learning. It has made several surveys on ABS policy and is familiar to the CBD forum.

Participant 15 (WFCC -World Federation for Cultures Collections, Int’l Union) is a Federation within the International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS). WFCC is concerned with the study, maintenance and distribution of microbes and cultured cells. The WFCC pioneered the development of an international database on culture resources world-wide: the WFCC World Data Centre for Micro-organisms (WDCM). This data resource has records of 471 culture collections from 61 countries.

Documents & reports

Coordination & Contact

Philippe Desmeth
Belgian Coordinated Collections of Micro-organisms (BCCM)
Belgian Science Policy Office, Louise Avenue 231, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 238.37.13
Email: philippe.desmeth@belspo.be