Digital Sequence Information and Traditional Medicinal Knowledge: Bridging the Regulatory Gap in the Age of Dematerialisation

Abstract

The emergence of Digital Sequence Information as the primary medium through which genetic resources are accessed and exploited has exposed a structural gap in India's biodiversity governance framework. The central question addressed here is whether the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, as amended in 2023, adequately captures Digital Sequence Information within its access and benefit-sharing obligations, and if not, what doctrinal correction is needed. A strict textual reading of Section 2(c) of the Act excludes intangible genetic data from its scope a gap that the 2023 Amendment left intact despite being a clear legislative opportunity. The Biological Diversity Rules, 2024, and the National Biodiversity Authority Access and Benefit Sharing Regulations, 2025, attempt to fill this vacuum at the regulatory level, but sub-statutory instruments operating beyond the scope of the parent statute are vulnerable to constitutional challenge. Through a doctrinal analysis supplemented by a statutory comparison with Brazil's Law No. 13,123/2015, it is argued that India requires a targeted amendment to Section 2(c) to bring Digital Sequence Information explicitly within the national Access and Benefit Sharing framework.