Patentability of self-replicating technologies.

Patents provide an incentive to inventors, investors, and entrepreneurs to conduct research and development, especially in risky (i.e., unpredictable) fields of technology. This review discusses whether self-replicating technologies are patentable within the United States and the issues surrounding them. Self-replicating technologies discussed include plants, bacteria, and genetic technology and the historical legal precedents that have led to the current status of the patent law. To clearly understand these issues, the review also discusses various U.S. Supreme Court cases that, although not related to self-replicating technologies, have an impact on these patentability issues. Finally, some thoughts regarding patent strategy are presented so as to maximize patent protection for these technologies.

The context and development of a global framework for plant conservation.

A new international initiative for plant conservation was first called for as a resolution of the International Botanical Congress in 1999. The natural home for such an initiative was considered to be the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CBD agreed to consider a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) at its 5th meeting in 2000. It was proposed that the GSPC could provide an innovative model approach for target setting within the CBD and, prior to COP5, a series of inter-sessional papers on proposed targets and their justification were developed by plant conservation experts. Key factors that ensured the adoption of the GSPC by the CBD in 2002 included: (1) ensuring that prior to and during COP5, key Parties in each region were supportive of the Strategy; (2) setting targets at the global level and not attempting to impose these nationally; and (3) the offer by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) to support a GSPC position in the CBD Secretariat for 3 years, which provided a clear indication of the support for the GSPC from non-governmental organizations (NGO).

Science and policy: valuing framing, language and listening.

This paper considers the context for science contributing to policy development and explores some critical issues that should inform science advocacy and influence with policy makers. The paper argues that the key challenges are at least as much in educating conservation scientists and science communicators about society and policy making as they are in educating society and policy makers about science. The importance of developing processes to ensure that scientists and science communicators invest in the development of relationships based on respect and understanding of their audience in both communities and amongst policy makers provides a critical first step. The objectives of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation acknowledge the importance of developing the capacities and public engagement necessary to implement the Strategy, including knowledge transfer and community capacity building. However, the development of targets to equip institutions and plant conservation professionals to explicitly address the barriers to influencing policy development through knowledge transfer and integration require further consideration.