78
3
tion, but at the same time, it has also prevented opportunities for benefits for possessors of local and traditional knowledge.
3.8 From Hollywood to the Norwegian Mountains
We will now move on to present a case of bioprospecting that took place in
Norway as early as 1969. This case is interesting for two reasons. First, because it
provides insights to the political economy of bioprospecting. This is an activity
that usually takes many years from biological samples are collected, until a new
product is developed, becomes available on the market, and makes substantial
revenues.
Second, it also provides an interesting case about how a narrative may be created and established by media as a truth, and this is what we will highlight here.
Earlier in this chapter we have seen how the Medicine Man film captured elements of both of the two types of discursive narratives on bioprospecting that have
been prominent since around 1990. Contrary to the Hollywood presentation of
bioprospecting, Norwegian media have given one-dimensional presentations of
biopiracy. This has happened even in the case discussed below where our research
was the original source of knowledge, which provided a very different narrative.
The biologist Hans Peter Frey worked at Sandoz, a Swiss company that later
became part of Novartis, the largest pharmaceutical company of recent decades.
In interviews with Frey, he told us that in 1969 he and his wife had taken an autumn
holiday in Norway. In Oslo, they rented a car that they drove over the mountains
to Bergen. When passing the Hardanger mountain plateau they stopped along the
road several times to take photos of the scenery. Frey told us that at each stop he
took the opportunity to collect a soil sample. Back in Switzerland, the samples
went through a comprehensive process Sandoz had devised in its search for medicinal properties of biological material. One of the samples from the Hardanger
Plateau contained a microfungus named Tolypocladium inflatum, and this fungus
was found to produce cyclosporin, a biochemical that prevents immune reactions
after organ transplantations.
From 1978 to 1998, Sandoz and its successor Novartis took out many patents
associated with cyclosporin, including 15 American patents. In 1983, the first medicine based on cyclosporin was introduced on the market. By 1997, it had become
Novartis’ most profitable pharmaceutical product, with a market of more than one
billion dollars that year (Svarstad et al. 2000).
For years, Norwegian biologists and conservationists have pointed to the
‘Hardanger Plateau fungus’ as an example of the importance of protecting biological diversity (for example Høyland and Ryvarden 1990; WWF Norway 1998).
In this narrative, the argument is that medicines crucial for humanity can be found
in biodiversity everywhere, even in barren Norwegian mountains. Thus, protected
areas are important, although the sample behind the medicine was actually collected outside the Hardanger Plateau National Park.
In the late 1990s, the microfungus became the object of a biopiracy narrative in
which biological patents were held to be the principal means of exploitation. The
Chapter 3 · Discourses and Narratives on Environment and Development: The Example…
3
tion, but at the same time, it has also prevented opportunities for benefits for possessors of local and traditional knowledge.
3.8 From Hollywood to the Norwegian Mountains
We will now move on to present a case of bioprospecting that took place in
Norway as early as 1969. This case is interesting for two reasons. First, because it
provides insights to the political economy of bioprospecting. This is an activity
that usually takes many years from biological samples are collected, until a new
product is developed, becomes available on the market, and makes substantial
revenues.
Second, it also provides an interesting case about how a narrative may be created and established by media as a truth, and this is what we will highlight here.
Earlier in this chapter we have seen how the Medicine Man film captured elements of both of the two types of discursive narratives on bioprospecting that have
been prominent since around 1990. Contrary to the Hollywood presentation of
bioprospecting, Norwegian media have given one-dimensional presentations of
biopiracy. This has happened even in the case discussed below where our research
was the original source of knowledge, which provided a very different narrative.
The biologist Hans Peter Frey worked at Sandoz, a Swiss company that later
became part of Novartis, the largest pharmaceutical company of recent decades.
In interviews with Frey, he told us that in 1969 he and his wife had taken an autumn
holiday in Norway. In Oslo, they rented a car that they drove over the mountains
to Bergen. When passing the Hardanger mountain plateau they stopped along the
road several times to take photos of the scenery. Frey told us that at each stop he
took the opportunity to collect a soil sample. Back in Switzerland, the samples
went through a comprehensive process Sandoz had devised in its search for medicinal properties of biological material. One of the samples from the Hardanger
Plateau contained a microfungus named Tolypocladium inflatum, and this fungus
was found to produce cyclosporin, a biochemical that prevents immune reactions
after organ transplantations.
From 1978 to 1998, Sandoz and its successor Novartis took out many patents
associated with cyclosporin, including 15 American patents. In 1983, the first medicine based on cyclosporin was introduced on the market. By 1997, it had become
Novartis’ most profitable pharmaceutical product, with a market of more than one
billion dollars that year (Svarstad et al. 2000).
For years, Norwegian biologists and conservationists have pointed to the
‘Hardanger Plateau fungus’ as an example of the importance of protecting biological diversity (for example Høyland and Ryvarden 1990; WWF Norway 1998).
In this narrative, the argument is that medicines crucial for humanity can be found
in biodiversity everywhere, even in barren Norwegian mountains. Thus, protected
areas are important, although the sample behind the medicine was actually collected outside the Hardanger Plateau National Park.
In the late 1990s, the microfungus became the object of a biopiracy narrative in
which biological patents were held to be the principal means of exploitation. The
Chapter 3 · Discourses and Narratives on Environment and Development: The Example…