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28 U. Haw. L. Rev. 387 (2005-2006)
Biopiracy in Paradise: Fulfilling the Legal Duty to Regulate Bioprospecting in Hawai'i

handle is hein.journals/uhawlr28 and id is 393 raw text is: Biopiracy in Paradise?: Fulfilling the Legal Duty to Regulate Bioprospecting in Hawai'i I. INTRODUCTION In response to questions regarding a June 2002 bioprospecting agreement between the University of Hawai'i Marine Bioproducts Engineering Center (MarBEC) and San Diego-based Diversa Corporation (Diversa),1 which gave Diversa the exclusive right to discover, harvest, and exploit genes from environmental samples collected off of Hawai'i's shores in order to develop commercially marketable products,2 University of Hawai'i (UH) President for Research James Gaines remarked, [iut's not like they wanted the beak of an endangered bird or something like that .... We aren't doing sinister things.3 Although this agreement was not sinister per se and has not lead to the development of any commercially marketable products,4 it raised many complicated legal, economic, social, and moral issues, none of which have been resolved.' While countries and communities around the world have dealt with bioprospecting for decades, the worldwide wave of bioprospecting has not yet fully arrived in Hawai'i. Bioprospecting is defined as the examination of biological resources for features of commercial value.6 Since the 1950s, worldwide bioprospecting has ' Diversa Will Mine Biodiversity in Hawaii, ENVTL. NEWS SERVICE, June 11, 2002, available athttp://www.kahea.orglgmo/pdf/diversa-corp-bioprospecting.pdf. Diversa provides an explanation of its business in its Corporate Overview: Diversa Corporation is a leader in applying proprietary genomic technologies for the rapid discovery and optimization of novel products from genes and gene pathways. Diversa is directing its integrated portfolio of technologies to the discovery, evolution, and production of commercially valuable molecules with pharmaceutical applications, such as optimized monoclonal antibodies and orally active drugs, as well as enzymes and small molecules with agricultural, chemical, and industrial applications. Diversa Corporation, Corporate Overview, http:llwww.diversa.com/corpinfo/corpover.asp (last visited Mar. 3, 2005). 2 Howard Dicus, Weird Science: Company Contracts with UHfor Access to Strange DNA, PAC. Bus. NEWS, June 7, 2002, available at http://pacific.bizjoumals.compacific/stories/ 2002/06/10/story6.htnl (internal quotation marks omitted). 3 Nelson Daranciang, House Bill Would Halt UH 'Bioprospecting' of Native Species, HONOLULU STAR-BULL, Mar. 18, 2004, available at http://starbulletin.com/2004/03/18/news/ story7.html. 4 Telephone Interview with Kevin Kelly, Dir. of Bus. Dev., Ctr. for Marine Microbial Ecology and Diversity, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, in Honolulu, Haw. (Apr. 27, 2005). ' Id. Kevin Kelly explained that UH often shares material with Diversa and other companies, but for some reason this particular agreement caught a lot of people's attention. Id. 6 Kristy Hall, Bioprospecting Background Paper: What is Bioprospecting and what are Our International Commitments? (2003) (unpublished M.A. thesis, The University of Auckland)

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