Implications Of Genetic Technologies For Indigenous Peoples
Press Release: Nga Wahine Tiaki o te Ao
Date: September 1 2000
Representatives from the American based Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism today began a two-week tour of the
North Island to discuss the implications of genetic technologies for indigenous peoples.
"Genetic technologies raise serious issues of concern to indigenous peoples", said Debra Harry, one of the visitors and
Executive Director of the Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism (IPCB). The concerns occur on two fronts: human
genetics and agricultural genetics. Both are driven by the same technological techniques and the application of patent
law to forms of living beings.
Discussing the human genetics side, Harry noted, "Now that the sequencing of the Œaverage¹ human genome is virtually
complete, more scientists will turn their attention to human genetic diversity, which includes the collection and study
of the DNA of indigenous peoples. This is likely to result in patents on the genetic inheritance of indigenous peoples,
and possible manipulations of their DNA, which violate the natural genetic integrity of their ancestry".
The other visitor, Brett Lee Shelton, an attorney and IPCB¹s Director of Policy and Research states, "Indigenous peoples
need to first obtain information about genetic research likely to be done in their communities. And, indigenous peoples
need to assert their sovereign right to control genetic research activities that affect them. They must set limitations
and enforce them when research activities affect their peoples."
"Genetic research of this scale hurts, rather than benefits, indigenous peoples because it diverts public funds away
from direct health care and prevention programs," he added, continuing that "the millions of dollars spent on human
genome sequencing has diverted attention away from far more current and pressing public health needs. The same amount of
attention to insure we have access to basic health care, clean water, safe foods, and a healthy environment is an effort
from which we would see real benefits."
Harry noted, "several critics of the current widespread emphasis on genomic research have noted that economic
oppression, not genetics, is a major cause of illness in minority/ethnic communities. An emphasis on genetic research
will pose no benefits to vast numbers of the public, whose health problems are a product of contaminated environments,
and economic poverty, not inherited diseases."
This work brings us closer to a future where the human genome can be privatized, not to benefit people¹s health but to
fatten corporate profits. Already, patents have been filed, and then later abandoned, on the DNA of indigenous peoples
from the Solomon Islands and Panama. The U.S. Patent and Trademarks Office (PTO) actually approved a patent on the cells
lines of a Hagahai man from Papua New Guinea. The patent was granted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
and the National Institutes of Health in March 1994. In late 1996 the NIH abandoned the patent. However, the Hagahai
cell line is now available to the public at the American Type Culture Collection as ATCC Number: CRL-10528 Organism:
Homo Sapiens (human) for $216 per sample. This trend is likely to continue as new potentially profitable genes are
identified in indigenous populations.
Numerous patents have been granted to both public and private interests for partial or full human genes. For instance,
Celera has applied for 6,500 gene patents, while Incyte has filed patent applications covering 50,000 individual human
genes. In order to stop the privatization and commodification of the human genome, several citizens groups are calling
for national legislation to mandate the US Patent and Trademark Office to cease granting patents on human genes, and to
exclude living creatures, their genes or components from the patent system.
The Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism is organized to assist indigenous peoples in the protection of their
genetic resources, indigenous knowledge, and cultural and human rights from the negative effects of biotechnology. The
organization encourages indigenous peoples to pay critical attention to genetic research, and to establish laws that
protect their resources from exploitation.
More information on the work of the IPCB can be found on their website at www.ipcb.org.
1. Celera Press Release "Celera compiles DNA Sequence Covering 90% of the Human Genome", January 10, 2000 2. Incyte
Press Release, November 22, 1999 PRNewswire
For Further Information Please Contact:
Donna Gardiner
Nga Wahine Tiaki o Te Ao Mobile: 025-243-2172
From The Desk Of:
Ms D CHRIS WEBSTER
PO Box 10804 WELLINGTON
EMAIL: dcwebster@xtra.co.nz Mobile: 026-283-8986