Academic cartography: Understanding the directions of modern biological science

Over the last three decades, the biological research has undergone drastic change. In addition to the many scientific and technological advancements, the legal, and hence economic, structures within which biological research occurs have also been significantly altered. In the early 1980's the patent laws were extended to encompass almost all products of biological research, including living organisms, and the U.S. Congress passed a series of laws which encouraged the intertwining of academic and industrial interests. This research explores how these legal and economic changes have shaped academic research agendas in the biological sciences. Using the University of California, Berkeley as a case study, I have employed a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods to (a) map the directions of biological research occurring in the four main UC Berkeley biology departments over the last two and a half decades, (b) characterize industrial involvement in biological research at UC Berkeley, and (c) understand the decision making calculus scientists and university administrators employ in crafting their personal research agendas and the research directions for their departments and colleges. This dissertation elucidates the necessary convergence of interests, resources, and skills required for any research project to proceed, explores the motivation of academic strength in both the laboratory and the university as a whole, and finally examines the co-construction of the cutting edge These concepts offer new insight into understanding the processes through which science takes its shape.