Browsing by Author "Rhyans, Steven"

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    5.4 Letter to our relatives, ancestors, and future generations: A call to establish Indigenous Biotechnology
    (Rice University, 2025) Flores, WarīNkwī; Astolfi, Maria C.T.; Perez, Rolando; Elcock, Leon B. III; Bonilla, Janeth; Rhyans, Steven; Kong, David
    At the 50th anniversary of the Asilomar Summit, the Indigenous Biotechnology Working Group share this letter as a collective call to establish Indigenous Biotechnology as a distinct and self-determined field. Grounded in Indigenous Knowledge Systems, this emerging field reimagines biotechnology through the values of reciprocity, sovereignty, stewardship, and kinship with all life. In response to centuries of extractive science and ongoing colonialism, Indigenous Biotechnology centers the rights of Peoples and the rights of Nature in the design, governance, and development of biotechnology. This letter highlights foundations of the field, calls for global alliances, and invites to build the Principles of Indigenous Biotechnology by 2026. We write to our ancestors, relatives, and future generations to shape a future in which biotechnology safeguards the biodiversity, cultures, and Peoples that sustain our scientific innovations.