Bob Weber, THE CANADIAN PRESS

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Oil and gas are usually considered the Arctic's most valuable resources, but a new report suggests northern lands and seas are developing another increasingly profitable industry - genetics.

And figures from the presentation to be delivered Monday at a United Nations-sponsored conference in Iceland suggest Canada could be falling behind in taking advantage of it.

Arctic biotechnology already involves dozens of companies from around the world and is affecting products from ice cream to anti-stroke medications, said David Leary, an international lawyer with the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, a think-tank that advises the UN General Assembly.

"Bioprospecting is not just for the tropical countries," he said from Akureyri, Iceland.

In the first global look at biotechnology and the North, Leary has found 43 companies are already either selling or developing products derived from the DNA found in Arctic plants and animals. The Arctic's unique environment has given rise to unique - and useful - adaptations.

"It's primarily the extreme environment there," said Leary.

Most of the activity so far has focused on using compounds from organisms that have evolved to live at near-zero or even sub-zero environments.

Enzymes from arctic fish that remain active near the freezing mark allow food processors to operate at lower - and safer - temperatures. Such cold-adapted enzymes show potential for improving products from bread to beer.

Other companies are using so-called "antifreeze proteins" found in Arctic plants and animals as a way to improve the taste, texture and safety of frozen food. One company is using antifreeze proteins from the Arctic pout, an eel-like fish found off Labrador, to make a low-fat ice cream.

Some of those proteins may have medical value. Proteins from the Arctic squirrel, the only mammal known to be able to lower its body temperature below freezing, are being tested to see if they will help people recover from strokes.

Leary said the industry is still too new to be assigned a dollar value. But patents derived from Arctic bioprospecting that have either been applied for or granted include everything from skin cream to paper recyclers to low-calorie sweeteners to highly specific research compounds.

Canada, however, may not be taking advantage of its extensive Arctic ecosystem.

Of 31 known patents concerning products derived from Arctic organisms, two-thirds are held by U.S. companies. None are Canadian.

Leary's report found only three Canadian companies involved in Arctic bioprospecting. Iceland, with a population slightly smaller than that of Halifax, has 10.

With four universities pursuing the area, Leary said Norway has the most developed Arctic marine biotechnology facilities. Other countries with Arctic research facilities looking into biotechnology include China, South Korea, Poland, Germany and India.

"It is both developed and developing countries that are active in bioprospecting," said Leary.

The growing industry is raising international issues.

"Who gets to share in the benefits or the profits that may come from bioprospecting? Just the developed countries that have access to these resources or should some of this income also be going to developing countries?

"This mirrors the debate that is going in other parts of the UN system on bioprospecting."

Some are also concerned about how the industry will affect the environment. Some biotech products can be cultured in a lab, but others involve harvesting large amounts of plants or animals.

"There has been some debate on whether (bioprospecting) has an environmental impact," Leary said. "The science is unclear."

As well, the blurry distinction between pure science and commercially driven research is causing concern for some licensing bodies.

Although aboriginal people in other parts of the world have claimed that bioprospecting infringes on their rights by building on traditional understanding of biodiversity, Leary said relatively little of the Arctic research involves traditional knowledge.

Biotechnology is a growth industry worldwide, said Leary, and there's no reason that the Arctic should be left out.

"Nature provides a lot of inspiration," he said.