The Bio Station hit back at accusations of "biological piracy" yesterday, calling them "inaccurate" and a "disgrace".

Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR) director Tony Knap spoke in response to an article in Friday's Royal Gazette. The story, under the headline "Preventing biological piracy in Bermuda's waters", said Government was cracking down on BBSR research after two projects using genetic materials from local waters did not benefit Bermuda at all.

The two projects included a project run by a company called Diversa, which is marketing a protein collected from Bermuda coral as a biotechnology tool, as well as that of world-famous Human Genome scientist Craig Venter.

Dr. Venter collected organisms from the Sargasso Sea - Bermuda's local waters - in his search for an organism which could convert carbon dioxide into a clean fuel source.

The article stated that both projects were carried out in affiliation with the BBSR under a decades-old permit used to carry out BBSR research.

However, it said, Government will now be revoking the permit and begin negotiating deals with research teams directly to ensure Bermuda gets a legitimate share of any financial gains earned from its genetic resources.

But Dr. Knap hit back yesterday, saying the article was based on "a re-hash of an inaccurate story which appeared in Nature magazine four weeks ago".

With Nature already agreeing to publish a letter from Dr. Knap, director of Conservation Services Jack Ward, and Diversa CEO Jay Short rebutting that story, Dr. Knap added he felt it was a "disgrace" that this newspaper did not get the entire story before going to press.

In the letter to Nature, the three wrote: "The Ministry of the Environment is not displeased with Diversa Corporation's research activities in Bermuda, greatly values the ongoing collaborations with the BBSR, and appreciates its responsibility in ensuring a proactive and consultative approach to issues of environmental access."

Diversa, the BBSR and Government will continue exploring ways to expand the benefits of bio-prospecting for Bermuda, it added.

Noting that it is impossible to patent a genetic sequence, Dr. Knap said therefore Bermuda had lost no revenue from Dr. Venter's project. He also noted that Dr. Venter's findings were published in open literature "for the global good".

He said the issue of ownership of such findings was complicated, pointing out that water travelling past Bermuda travels past many other countries also.

"We are working with Bermuda Government representatives to determine the best practice," he said. "Many other countries are dealing with similar issues. The United States, for example, does not claim any value or collect revenue from its marine genetic resources.

"We continue to talk to the Bermuda Government officials about equitable benefit sharing, making sure that everyone benefits."

Royal Gazette Editor Bill Zuill said that The Royal Gazette had unsuccessfully attempted to contact Dr. Knap on Thursday night. But Mr. Ward was contacted, and said the original story was erroneous and explained Government's policy.

"While we try to contact all relevant sources when researching stories, we felt that Mr. Ward's explanation was adequate and that the story was of sufficient public interest to justify publication without having heard back from contacted Dr. Knap," Mr. Zuill said.

"Dr. Knap's response (published in full on Page 4) covers much the same ground as our story and on that basis I feel that we were justified in going ahead and publishing."