Microbial Symbionts of Insects are the Focus of the First International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG) in Brazil

The basic aim of the ICBG (International Cooperative Biodiversity Group) program is to benefit both the host country and the global scientific community by discovering and developing new solutions to human health problems based on previously unexplored genetic resources. The first ICBG in Brazil is jointly supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (FIC/NIH) in the USA and by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) in Brazil. The ongoing ICBG, developed under the BIOTA-FAPESP Program, is based on the highly evolved fungus-growing ant multilateral symbiosis between three mutualists and one parasite. The project aligns chemical ecology and therapeutic application, increasing the chances of discovering new antifungal, antibacterial, anticancer and antiprotozoal hits and leads. In this article we describe the rationale of the ICBG and the legal requirements to develop this type of international collaborative project in Brazil.