03 Ethics

Ethics in AEGIS
Dry, hilly landscape with visible footprints on the ground from people walking in the distance.
The Ethics Advisory Board (EAB) provides independent ethical reflection and guidance for AEGIS. Its task is to develop the Copenhagen Protocol – a set of ethical principles and guidelines linked to the use of ancient environmental DNA and the possible downstream applications of research findings.

The EAB receives regular input from AEGIS work packages, discusses emerging issues at semi-annual meetings, and provides written guidance that informs the Copenhagen Protocol. The EAB draws on international frameworks such as the Nagoya Protocol, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and forthcoming guidance on Digital Sequence Information (DSI). Legal and case-specific matters are handled by the institutional legal teams.

The EAB is an independent advisory body, created specifically for the unique ethical questions that arise from ancient environmental DNA research.

FREYJA

FREYJA – Fostering Reciprocity in Environmental DNA science through Yielded stewardship, Just benefit, and Accountability – is a separate research project funded by the Wellcome Trust that focuses on reciprocity and ethical collaboration with Indigenous Peoples and local communities in places where ancient eDNA research is carried out.

How EAB and FREYJA relate

  • The EAB develops ethical principles and guidelines for ancient eDNA and its potential uses.
  • FREYJA develops, tests and applies a framework for reciprocity and benefit-sharing with Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Together, they address both ethical principles and ethical practice in AEGIS.

Close-up of two researchers collecting soil samples while wearing protective gear.

FREYJA (Community Reciprocity & Engagement)

FREYJA:

  • investigates cultural, ethical and legal perspectives on access and benefit-sharing related to ancient  environmental DNA and Digital Sequence Information (DSI).
  • works directly with communities (including on Rapa Nui and in Arctic Canada) to understand priorities, needs and worldviews regarding scientific collaboration.
  • develops and tests a practical framework for research reciprocity, which is applied and evaluated together with AEGIS researchers.
  • FREYJA explores how scientific research can be reciprocal in its approach – acknowledging community priorities, sharing benefits, and building capacity through collaboration.

FREYJA explores how scientific research can be reciprocal in its approach – acknowledging community priorities, sharing benefits, and building capacity through collaboration.

Read more about FREYJA

The Ethics Advisory Board (EAB)

The EAB focuses on ethical challenges in three areas:

  1. Ethics of the data engine
    – collection and handling of samples, including potential human genetic bycatch
    – questions relating to access, openness, fairness, and re-use of data and methods
  2. Ethics of altered cropping systems
    – consequences of shifting from yield-focused monocultures to resilience-oriented, ecosystem-based agriculture
    – transparency around potential commercial uses of research outcomes and benefit-sharing across stakeholders
  3. Ethics of practical consequences regarding ancient eDNA
    – considerations related to releasing or using ancient genomes or traits
    – questions concerning de-extinction or re-introduction of extinct genetic variants, including possible pathogens or pests