Navigating the regulatory jungle: DSMZ researchers publish Nagoya Protocol guide

(Braunschweig/Germany – 21 May 2026): Research takes place within a complex legal framework. The Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH, together with an international consortium, has now published two timely articles on this topic in the renowned journal “Sustainable Microbiology”. DSMZ researchers Davide Faggionato and Melania Muñoz-García are the lead authors of the articles, with Amber H. Scholz, Head of the DSMZ Department of Science Policy & Internationalisation, serving as corresponding author. The first article, “Policy in practice: How to do the Nagoya Protocol”, cleans up common misconceptions and offers researchers from around the world practical guidance/help on the ethical and legally compliant use of biological resources.

Microorganisms are the driving force behind biotechnological innovations
Microorganisms are central to biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and biotechnological innovation. Research into microbial genetic resources is, however, increasingly shaped by a complex web of international and national legal frameworks. The two articles tackle this challenge from complementary perspectives: one publication offers a step-by-step guide to compliance with the Nagoya Protocol, the other provides an overview of the broader regulatory environment governing microbial resources, including rules on access and benefit-sharing, intellectual property, biological safety, ethics, and sector-specific agreements.

No more “Take what you want!”
The days of colonial research expeditions are long gone. Since the Nagoya Protocol came into force, access to genetic resources is bound by clear rules: the sovereign rights of the countries of origin must be respected and profits are to be shared fairly. “Many scientists still confuse the Nagoya Protocol with the Kyoto Climate Protocol,” explains Dr Amber H. Scholz. “The only thing they have in common is their Japanese origin. Life scientists need to be aware of the Nagoya Protocol.” Breaches of ABS (Access and Benefit-Sharing) rules can have drastic legal consequences.

more information is here.

Farmers-led party set to prosper in key Dutch regional elections

 from the Guardian

A new party led by farmers fighting cuts to nitrogen emissions looks set to be the big winner in key Dutch regional elections that could severely weaken the government and, analysts suggest, herald a Europe-wide backlash against the green transition.

The BoerBurgerBeweging (Farmer-Citizen Movement, or BBB) was launched in 2019 and has just one MP, but its people-against-the-elites platform has struck a chord with disaffected voters, and polls suggest it could finish as the second-largest or even the largest party in Wednesday’s vote.

David and Yanis

Two economists, an Irish and a Greek, talking to each other about covid-19 and beyond.

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world"

Yeats


= = =

or in Cavafy's views

Thermopylae

Honor is due to those who are keeping watch,

Sentinels guarding their own Thermopylae;

Never distracted from what is right to do,

And right to be; in all things virtuous,

But never so hardened by virtue as not to be

     

Compassionate, available to pity;

Generous if they’re rich, but generous too,

Doing whatever they can, if they are poor;

Always true to the truth, no matter what,

But never scornful of those who have to lie.

Even more honor is due when, keeping watch,

They see that the time will come when Ephialtes

Will tell the secret to the Medes and they

Will know the way to get in through the goat-path.

Obesity is a political problem

There is an increasing number of data that obesity is a social and political problem.
If you are educated and well paid, you would never buy this bread.
But, if your income is low, then your options are limited...
The only way round this is to Educate young people! Governments need to set up specific initiatives in schools. The younger the students we teach about healthy diet, the better for their future.

Ioannis

related reading

SciFest project of St Munchin's College year1 students

Our volunteers have low consumption of fruits and vegetables (61% consume < 2 portions of fruit per day whereas 50% consume <2 portions of vegetable per day). The monitoring of their body fat and BMI was conducted using a Tanita body analyser in the University of Limerick and we found that the boys who exercise regularly have a mean BMI of 20 whereas the boys who exercise less  have an average BMI of  27.

A clear correlation between lifestyle choices and BMI was found. These results highlight the value of adhering to dietary guidelines of Irish Food and the Mediterranean diet Pyramids.

People have the Power

In this blog, we don't like to talk about politicians, but we do like to talk about People and The Polis

When politicians learn to respect People, then we can hope that we can improve this World.

The news coming from Catalonia give a strong glimpse of Hope!



 

I was dreaming in my dreaming
Of an aspect bright and fair
And my sleeping it was broken
But my dream it lingered near
In the form of shining valleys
Where the pure air recognized
And my senses newly opened
I awakened to the cry
That the people have the power
To redeem the work of fools
Upon the meek the graces shower
It' s decreed the people rule

The people have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power
The people have the power

Vengeful aspects became suspect
And bending low as if to hear
And the armies ceased advancing
Because the people had their ear
And the shepherds and the soldiers
Lay beneath the stars
Exchanging visions
And laying arms
To waste in the dust
In the form of shining valleys
Where the…

Where there were deserts
I saw fountains
Like cream the waters rise
And we strolled there together
With none to laugh or criticize
And the leopard
And the lamb
Lay together truly bound
I was hoping in my hoping
To recall what I had found
I was dreaming in my dreaming
God knows a purer view
As I surrender to my sleeping
I commit my dream to you

Where there were deserts
I saw fountains
Like cream the waters rise
And we strolled there together
With none to laugh or criticize
And the leopard
And the lamb
Lay together truly bound
I was hoping in my hoping
To recall what I had found
I was dreaming in my dreaming
God knows a purer view
As I surrender to my sleeping
I commit my dream to you

The power to dream to rule
To wrestle the world from fools
It' s decreed the people rule
It' s decreed the people rule
I believe everything we dream
Can come to pass through our union
We can turn the world around
We can turn the earth' s revolution
We have the power
People have the power

Songwriters: Fred Smith / Patti Smith

polis, politics, politicians

Emma Goldman (June 27 [O.S. June 15], 1869 – May 14, 1940) was an anarchist political activist and writer.

In this blog, we (are trying to) focus to food and nutrition.

Let's make an exemption today.

Let's remember something that happened in Greece, 2 years ago...

5th July 2015...

people said NO. 

People believed that there is some hope...

few days later, Tsipras changed it to YES...

and Greece was condemned to be a "bailout-istan" for many decades...

Results Votes %

Yes 2,245,537 38.69%

No 3,558,450 61.31%

Valid votes 5,803,987 94.20%

5 Ιούλη 2015...

Ο Λαός Είπε ΌΧΙ...

λίγες μέρες μετά, ο Τσίπρας το άλλαξε σε ΝΑΙ...

και έτσι η πατρίδα μου καταδικάστηκε να είναι μια δουλοπαροικία εις τον Αιώνα των Αιώνων...

 - - -

this is a historical paradigm where People do not have any power...

Elections cannot be allowed to change economic policy

What does it mean for policy to be insulated from politics? That’s the question we ultimately confront when investigating the putative depoliticisation of the economy. Matters which should be publicly resolved, through organised processes of contestation, instead get decided privately. We can cite examples of such transitions, consider whether they embody a broader tendency and offer explanations which account for this direction of travel.

However I’ve often wondered about the micro-social aspects of such a transition, specifically how policy makers make sense of this depoliticisation. Is it a naked power grab? Is it a response to the vagaries of the electorate? Is it an attempt to address issues of socio-economic change which are seen as being impossible to raise with the public?  Yanis Varoufakis offers a partial answer to these questions in his gripping accounts of Eurogroup negotiations in his political memoir Adults In The Rooms. From loc 4202

As he spoke, Schäuble directed a piercing look at Sapin. ‘Elections cannot be allowed to change economic policy,’ he began. Greece had obligations that could not be reconsidered until the Greek programme had been completed, as per the agreements between my predecessors and the troika. The fact that the Greek programme could not be completed was apparently of no concern to him. What startled me more than Wolfgang Schäuble’s belief that elections are irrelevant was his total lack of compunction in admitting to this view. His reasoning was simple: if every time one of the nineteen member states changed government the Eurogroup was forced to go back to the drawing board, then its overall economic policies would be derailed. Of course he had a point: democracy had indeed died the moment the Eurogroup acquired the authority to dictate economic policy to member states without anything resembling federal democratic sovereignty.

 = = = 

And our eternal Quest for A Democratic Europe is still on but so much more disheartened...

Our Polis is governed no more by the People but by the Eurogroup... a circle of not elected technocrats... 

The end of Democracy...

The rise of Eurogroup-cracy...

Diet, Nutrition and Politics (upd)

the June issue of International Aquafeeds is out!

You can read my op-ed piece here.

Let’s remind ourselves some common sense things that the politicians tend to forget 

 1. We work towards the design, development and production of functional and nutritious food following as much as possible sustainable practices.

2. We care for the health of our family and the future of our kids.

3. In a wider and more, ideological context, we (should) care for the well being of Society and the Planet.

4. The public health is a matter of concern.

5. Healthy diet (with lots of fish!) should be promoted more openly. Now, let’s see some recent news coming from US [1].

According to this report, “Michelle Obama has made her strongest political intervention since leaving the White House, stating bluntly at a health conference: “Think about why someone is OK with your kids eating crap.”

So, why did she need to state this? Because, earlier in May, Donald Trump’s administration froze regulations that would cut sodium and increase whole grains served in school meals [2].

So, the story goes like that: Michelle Obama’s legacy on promoting healthy eating is in real danger by the current administration in US under Donald Trump.

This is the administration that denies climate change and the fact that the Planet gets warmer due to anthropogenic activities! It is quite clear from these stories, that when we work towards the 5 points mentioned at the start of this op-ed article, we are not alone!

We have to face politicians that are sometimes misinformed, probably a bit ignorant, somehow with their own agenda and ignoring the wider good!

However, there is a dead clear way forward that could boost our companies and products: to communicate to nutritional authorities and politicians the benefits of a healthy diet, the pros of eating fish and seafood and how these foods can promote health and inhibit obesity and cardiovascular diseases.

The world is complex and in order to be successful as professionals, as parents, as members of the wider public promoting the public interests we need to ask ourselves: Michelle or Donald?