Rethinking biopiracy through relational criminology in the age of data-driven biology

Biopiracy is a colonial legacy of misappropriating biological resources and Indigenous knowledge. Despite growing criminalisation, especially in the Global South, governance remains anchored in intellectual property law and state-centred biosovereignty, often deepening epistemic injustice and socio-economic inequality. These limitations are magnified in the age of data-driven biology, where genomic databases, artificial intelligence, and gene-editing technologies reshape how biological value is extracted and governed. Drawing on green criminology, zemiology, and critical theory, the article advances a relational criminology of biopiracy. It advances an ontological shift towards the relational, enabling biopiracy to be understood primarily as a layered regime of misrecognition and exclusion of social relations, and positioning critical criminology to inform more just bio-governance.