Abstract

Knowing more and more about less and less is the hazard of advanced research. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is no exception. Since its ratification in 1993, publications have gushed forth to address the problems of bioprospecting, intellectual property, and the public domain. Although the problems persist, faith remains strong that technical solutions are waiting to be found. Besides, specialists will rationalize, non-technical solutions are not our bailiwick. Civil society must weigh in on the ethics as we flesh out the technical solutions. What exactly are those ethics? How will civil society “weigh in?” Such unwelcome questions are not unique to bioprospecting, intellectual property, and the public domain. Forty-years ago Jacques Ellul commented, “Everywhere we find men who pronounce as highly personal truths what they have read in the papers only an hour before, and whose beliefs are merely the result of a powerful propaganda.” We perceive a different solution that does not risk becoming either the propagandist or the propagandee. Because nothing behooves democracy more than debate, we propose construction of a museum as a vehicle for agreement and disagreement over the legitimacy, merit, and correctness of governmental decisions on bioprospecting, intellectual property, and the public domain.