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First Nations elders are denied the opportunity to speak about the use of their genetic material as intellectual property.

1997

The Story of The Patenting of Life
INDG
GEN
CAN

At the First International Conference on DNA Sampling: Human Genetic Research - Legal and Policy Aspects, a group of First Nations people in Canada demand to address the conference regarding their concerns on the use of Indigenous genetic material, but are denied access.

The conference, which was organized against cultural protocol, denies the community's elders, or wisdom keepers, the right to determine if and how their genetic material would be used for genetic research.