Expect Resistance & Library Autonomous Zone

Uncoupling Campus and Company
“A CONVERSATION WITH: SHELDON KRIMSKY”
Uncoupling Campus and Company,
by Melody Petersen
New York Times,
September 23, 2003, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final, Section F; Page 2; Column 2; Science Desk.
In this interview with the author of Science in the Private Interest, subjects covered include ties between companies and academic scientists, privatization of research, private control of research data, intellectual property offices in universities, and more. Krimsky compares the climate around the Salk vaccine with today’s research climate:

When Jonas Salk was questioned about patenting the vaccine, he replied, “Could you patent the sun?” For him, he was doing something in the public interest. But attitudes changed in 1980. The Supreme Court ruled that patents could be issued on living things sui generis, independent of a product or process of development. That meant that you could get a patent for a discovery of a virus or by altering a plant or by finding a gene and isolating it. Then a gold rush mentality began.

Universities, seeking new sources of revenue, began turning themselves into engines for economic development. They began establishing intellectual property offices and provided incentives and rewards for faculty who patented their discoveries. In 1965, universities were awarded 95 patents. In 2000, universities were awarded 3,200.

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