Science for Sale: The Perils, Rewards, and Delusions of Campus Capitalism

The Perils, Rewards, and Delusions of Campus Capitalism offers a sweeping analysis of the complex and at times disturbing relationships among science, government, industry, and politics.In recent decades, academia's unending search for revenue has expanded beyond government subsidies, tuition, endowment income, donations, and research grants to encompass a relatively new prospect: harvesting intellectual property for financial gain.Greenberg, a distinguished science journalist, examines that development and its consequences.Some academic institutions have long exploited the fruits of their research.For example, the University of Wisconsin created a foundation to manage its patent for vitamin-D synthesis in 1925.But university interest in intellectual property expanded greatly following passage of the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980.This law gave universities and faculty a clear title to discoveries made with help from federal funds, the largest source of research support.But it imposed a duty to license those discoveries to industry, preferentially small businesses.In the ensuing years, links with established for-profit firms expanded, and academic-startup companies proliferated.At some institutions, entrepreneurship became another faculty responsibility, along with teaching, research, and service.Industrial support for university research, however, led to disputes over intellectual property ownership, research independence, and publication of results, and it rarely exceeded more than a small percentage of an institution's total research funding.The pharmaceutical industry, among others, developed a different model for technology acquisition.Some large manufacturers have stopped or reduced support for in-house research, as well as research at universities.Instead, universities perform the research, mainly with government support.They license the