Biocode 2.0 Moorea Coral Reef Hologenome Sequencing Project: A model for legal and ethical marine genetic research

The Biocode 2.0 project represents an advancement in marine genetic research. The project is based in French Polynesia, already one of the world’s best-studied tropical marine systems. Building on the pioneering Moorea Biocode Project (2007-2010), Biocode 2.0 aims to uncover the unseen biodiversity of coral reefs, notably host-associated microbiomes and viromes. These data will help researchers understand how biodiversity at the molecular scale responds to and recovers from disturbances. Biocode 2.0 seeks to do this through a co-designed process with the local community, implementing access and benefit-sharing (ABS) agreements, while providing unprecedented transparency and provenance tracking. The project implements novel data infrastructure to effectively monitor and ensure compliance with biodiversity data governance, including the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) and, in high-seas contexts, the BBNJ Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea - designing new ways to respond to compliance challenges associated with these international biodiversity governance frameworks. Biocode 2.0 is developing a robust sociotechnical infrastructure for compliance called iPlaces, which leverages the GEOME Field Information Management System. GEOME facilitates the tracking of key metadata about sampling events and the resulting specimens collected, linking these data to project permits (legal) and Indigenous community consent (extra legal) as documented through Local Contexts notices and labels. This framework allows for connecting upstream sampling data to downstream genomic information and other outputs, ensuring the cultural and legal metadata are transmitted along with scientific metadata. By incorporating FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics) principles, Biocode 2.0 aligns scientific progress with ethical standards, creating a model for inclusive and compliant marine genetic research that advances global scientific understanding and valorizes local and Indigenous knowledge appropriately.