BiOS (Biological Open Source/Biological Innovation for Open Society) is an international initiative to foster

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a n ...

and

freedom to operate Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

in the

biological sciences Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

. BiOS was officially launched on 10 February 2005 by

Cambia Cambia is an Australian-based global non-profit social enterprise focusing on open science, biology, innovation system reform and intellectual property. Its projects include The Lens, formerly known as Patent Lens, and the Biological Innovat ...

, an independent, international

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

dedicated to democratizing innovation. Its intention is to initiate new norms and practices for creating tools for biological innovation, using binding covenants to protect and preserve their usefulness, while allowing diverse business models for the application of these tools. As described by

Richard Anthony Jefferson Richard Anthony Jefferson (born 1956) is an American-born molecular biologist and social entrepreneur who developed the widely used reporter gene system GUS, conducted the world's first biotech crop release, proposed the Hologenome theory of evo ...

, CEO of Cambia, the Deputy CEO of Cambia, Dr Marie Connett worked extensively with small companies, university offices of

technology transfer Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...

, attorneys, and multinational corporations to create a platform to share productive and sustainable technology. The parties developed the BiOS Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) and the BiOS license as legal instruments to facilitate these goals.

Biological Open Source

Traditionally, the term '

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

' describes a paradigm for software development associated with a set of collaborative innovation practices, which ensure access to the end product's source materials - typically, source code. The BiOS Initiative has sought to extend this concept to the biological sciences, and agricultural biotechnology in particular. BiOS is founded on the concept of sharing scientific tools and platforms so that innovation can occur at the 'application layer.' Jefferson observes that, 'Freeing up the tools that make new discoveries possible will spur a new wave of innovation that has real value.' He notes further that, 'Open source is an enormously powerful tool for driving efficiency.' Through BiOS instruments, licensees cannot appropriate the fundamental kernel of a technology and improvements exclusively for themselves. The base technology remains the property of whichever entity developed it, but improvements can be shared with others that support the development of a protected commons around the technology. To maintain legal access to the technology, in other words, licensees must agree not to prevent others who have agreed to the same terms from using the technology and any improvements in the development of different products

BiOS License

By making the BiOS license cost-free, Cambia has sought to create 'freedom to innovate' in the scientific community. In lieu of royalties and other restrictions often imposed by legal agreements, the BiOS licenses impose on the licensee conditions to encourage cooperation and development of the technology. To be granted full, unfettered commercial rights to listed technologies, licensees are required to comply with three conditions: * To share with all BiOS licensees any improvements in the core technologies as defined, for which they seek any

Intellectual Property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

protection. * To agree to not assert over other BiOS licensees their own or third-party rights that might dominate the defined technologies. * To agree to share with the public any and all information about the

biosafety Biosafety is the prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health. These prevention mechanisms include the conduction of regular reviews of biosafety in laboratory settings, as well as strict guidel ...

of the defined technologies. As with other legal instruments, definitions used in the BiOS licenses are important. The scope and core capabilities of the enabling technologies and platforms should be carefully defined to provide confidence in the development of viable business models surrounding the use of the BiOS license. The adoption of the BiOS licenses has now extended to over 300 licensees worldwide.

Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs)

BiOS has also issued a series of Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs), a common form of

bailment Bailment is a legal relationship in common law, where the owner of personal property ("chattel") transfers physical possession of that property to another, who holds the property for a certain purpose, but retains ownership. The owner who sur ...

used to provide materials for life sciences research, such as bacterial strains, plant lines, cell cultures, or DNA. MTAs able to be adapted for biological materials are available on the BiOS site.

Open Source Biological Technologies

CambiaLabs engineered two ‘open source’ biological technologies, TransBacter and GUSPlus, which they released under the BiOS Initiative. The first, TransBacter, was designed to work around the intense patenting associated with the making of

transgenic A transgene is a gene that has been transferred naturally, or by any of a number of genetic engineering techniques, from one organism to another. The introduction of a transgene, in a process known as transgenesis, has the potential to change the ...

plants. Cambia identified that the majority of patents claiming methods for plant transgenics make explicit reference to the bacterium

Agrobacterium tumefaciens ''Agrobacterium tumefaciens'' (also known as ''Rhizobium radiobacter'') is the causal agent of crown gall disease (the formation of tumours) in over 140 species of eudicots. It is a rod-shaped, Gram-negative soil bacterium. Symptoms are cause ...

; therefore, the use of a bacterium outside the genus

Agrobacterium ''Agrobacterium'' is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria established by Harold J. Conn, H. J. Conn that uses horizontal gene transfer to cause tumors in plants. ''Agrobacterium tumefaciens'' is the most commonly studied species in this genus. ''Agr ...

would not be subject to existing patent claims. Cambia published its work on TransBacter, which uses bacteria from the genera

Rhizobium ''Rhizobium'' is a genus of Gram-negative soil bacteria that fix nitrogen. ''Rhizobium'' species form an endosymbiotic nitrogen-fixing association with roots of (primarily) legumes and other flowering plants. The bacteria colonize plant ce ...

Sinorhizobium ''Ensifer'' (often referred to in literature by its synonym ''Sinorhizobium'') is a genus of nitrogen-fixing bacteria (rhizobia), three of which ('' Ensifer meliloti'', '' Ensifer medicae'' and '' Ensifer fredii'') have been sequenced. Etymology ...

and Mesorhizobium in 2005 in ''Nature''. TransBacter is available to all non-profit researchers and institutes upon signing a BiOS MTA. For-profit companies are asked to sign a BiOS license and to make a contribution to Cambia which is calculated on the company’s financial means. An inventory of BiOS-licensed patents is available at the Cambia site.

References

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External links

BiOS

BiOS Licences

Creative Commons

Open Source Initiative
Biotechnology organizations