On Tuesday, February 19, Antonio Villanueva, coordinator of the “European Blue Biobank” (EBB) project, presented, as part of the “Café con Sal” series, the implications for researchers of the new regulations on access to marine genetic resources, with the talk “ABS: are you talking about my car brakes?”.
The scientific community, particularly those researching the properties of biological resources, is required to comply with the new European and national regulations on access to and use of genetic resources. However, this requirement is little known among researchers and represents an additional administrative burden for their work.
The EBB project, the first project of the “INTERREG Atlantic Area” call led by the University of Vigo, aims to prepare the marine stations of the EMBRC (European research infrastructure dedicated to fundamental and applied marine biology, of which ECIMAT is a part) to support their users in complying with the new regulations. It also seeks to assist national and European authorities in implementing these regulations as efficiently as possible, and to raise awareness among end-users of genetic resources about the need to comply with these rules.
This initiative, coordinated by ECIMAT, is made up of a multidisciplinary team that includes some of the world’s most important marine collections, marine biotechnology clusters, companies dedicated to marine biotechnology, and government departments responsible for access to marine genetic resources (“ABS Competent National Authorities” or CNAs). Through this project, they aim to promote the sustainable use of marine biological resources and facilitate access to their data and extractable products.
During the lecture, Antonio Villanueva provided basic information on the resources that researchers can rely on to minimize the impact of these new regulations on their work, aiming to raise awareness among attendees about this legal requirement.
The lecture took place at 11:00 in the ECIMAT Assembly Hall and was broadcast live at http://tv.uvigo.es/es/directo/1.html, and will soon be available on our website.
At the following link, you can download the presentation in PDF format (Presentación AntonioVillanueva – ABS, PDF 4,688 KB).
