ERIC Number: EJ961907
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Dec
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0270-4676
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Beyond the Boundary: Science, Industry, and Managing Symbiosis
Hansen, Birgitte Gorm
Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, v31 n6 p493-505 Dec 2011
Whether celebratory or critical, STS research on science-industry relations has focused on the blurring of boundaries and hybridization of codes and practices. However, the vocabulary of boundary and hybrid tends to reify science and industry as separate in the attempt to map their relation. Drawing on interviews with the head of a research center in plant biology, this article argues that biology and biotech are "symbionts". In order to be viable and productive, symbiosis needs to be carefully managed and given room for divergence within mutual dependence. This process does not take place as the negotiation of a preexisting science-industry boundary. Rather, viability is obtained through a strategy of "circumventing" the science-industry food chain and "sequestering" biotech components within the research center. Symbiosis allows academic scientists to do biology while at the same time demonstrating entrepreneurial spirit. (Contains 2 figures and 7 notes.)
Descriptors: Industry, Research and Development Centers, Botany, Biology, Vocabulary Development, Interviews, Higher Education, Universities, Interdisciplinary Approach, Biotechnology
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A