Biopiracy

(Biopiracy art by Mira Clark)

Biocolonialism: The commandeering of knowledge and biological resources from an indigenous people without compensation.

Biopiracy: The commercial exploitation or monopolization of biological or genetic material, as medicinal plant extracts, usually without compensating the indigenous peoples or countries from which the material or relevant knowledge is obtained.

Questions to Consider:

Are patenting laws ethical?

Should humans be able to own ideas through intellectual property rights?

How is Biopiracy/Biocolonialism a modern extension of colonization? What power-knowledge nexus is at play in Biopiracy and Biocolonialism?

Is it ethical to own life?

Are living organisms inventions?

How are concepts of ownership, private property and their related laws inexorably tied to capitalism?