Biopiracy

Ayurveda is the traditional system of medicine and medication, based on experience and observation. India has a rich heritage of indigenous knowlege and practices of healing and care. Two thirds of our population even today is directly dependent on the biological resources and the indigenous knowledge. Almost every Indian family knows instant home remedies for various ailments: milk with a pinch of turmeric for cold, dry ginger for stomach ailments, cloves for toothaches, the list can go on and on.

Unfortunately, these days we often hear how knowledge used for centuries by indigenous communities is being patented by corporations. Overtime, such patents can be used to create monopolies and make everyday products highly priced. The grant of patents on traditional medicines, which is either based on what is already a part of the traditional knowledge of the developing world, or a minor variation thereof, has been causing a great concern. The patents granted for instance on wound healing properties of turmeric or a fungicide from neem are some of such examples of blatant biopiracy of Indian traditional knowledge. Nevertheless, the patents on turmeric, neem has been successfully overturned and this is the first step in stopping biopiracy which has opened up opportunities and given us confidence that this exercise could be extended to other such patents on amla, pepper, bitter gourd, jamun, brinjal, garlic, ashwagandha etc.

However, the problem of biopiracy may not be resolved with patent revocation and domestic biodiversty legislation alone. There is a need to provide legal and institutional means for recognizing the rights of the indigenous communities on their traditional knowledge based on biological resources at the international level. It is important that the ownership of traditional knowledge be rejected. Such resources should remain accessible to all people. They are not commodities to be exploited by the corporate sector. Patenting indigenous knowlege cannot be acceptable since it is a theft from generations past, present and future.

One thing that is evident is that India has woken up to the task of protecting her traditional knowledge from biopiracy. As a result, the past decade has witnessed an increasing growth in demands and applications for the protection of traditional and indigenous knowlege systems from profit hungry commercial interests.In India until now, information from traditional texts had not been translated and put in public domain. Now full scale efforts have started with the electronic encyclopedia and people cannot claim Indian traditional knowledge as their own and get it patented.

To sum up, it is imperative to ammend the current patent system in order to provide a fair and honest global intellectual property rights that would halt biopiracy, which is sweeping the globe.

About the Author:

Kripalini Nesakumar

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Delectable Chocolate Recipes:

Wonderful Chocolate Icings, Frostings, and more:

Icing can be formed into shapes such as flowers and leaves using a pastry bag. A pastry bag is an often cone- or triangular-shaped, hand-held bag made from cloth, paper, or plastic that is used to pipe semi-solid foods by pressing them through a narrow opening at one end. Aside from icings and frostings, pastry bags are commonly used to shape meringue and whipped cream, and to fill doughnuts with jelly or vanilla custard. Using icing to decorate cakes is commonly used with wedding cakes, anniversary cakes and birthday cakes.

Chocolate Frosting

• 4 teaspoonfuls of Baker's Cocoa,
• 2 tablespoonfuls of cold water,
• 3 tablespoonfuls of hot water,
• 1/2 a teaspoonful of vanilla,
• About 1 1/3 cups of confectioners' sugar.

Put the cocoa in a small saucepan; add the cold water and stir until perfectly smooth; then the hot water, and cook for one or two minutes, add vanilla and a speck of salt, then stir in enough sugar to make it stiff enough to spread nicely. Beat until smooth and glossy and free from lumps.

If too thick, add a little cold water. If not thick enough, add a little sugar. Never make a frosting so stiff that it will have to be made smooth with a wet knife. It is better to let it run to the sides of the cake. For frosting sides of the cake, make a little stiffer.

This frosting never cracks as an egg frosting, but is hard enough to cut nicely.

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