There is a need for concerted efforts on the part of the international community to link up agro-biotechnologies and intellectual property rights with development objectives. This was highlighted by Pranav Desai of the Centre for Studies in Science Policy of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, in a paper “Challenges of agro-biotechnologies, intellectual property rights and globalization” published in Asian Biotechnology and Development Review.

Desai noted that the new economic environment of liberalized policies, increasing globalization, and the presence of emerging technologies, has shaped the direction for science and technology and its organizational structure. This reality has raised several socio-economic, ethical and political issues that need to be addressed. For example, national systems of innovations are under increasing strain due to liberalization, competition, increasing range of technologies, and uneven technological development. Similarly, strategies to maximize benefits of emerging technologies should take into account means to dovetail biotechnology with economic priorities, resource endowment and the science and technology infrastructure of a country.

Read the full article in the Volume 7, No. 2 issue of Asian Biotechnology and Development Review.