Science & Society

Are scientists a workforce? – Or, how

Dr. Frankenstein made biomedical
research sick
A proposed plan to rescue US biomedical research from its current ‘malaise’ will not be effective as it
misdiagnoses the root cause of the disease

Yuri Lazebnik

“You manage things, you lead “scientific workforce” was printed next to a [1], an outdated funding system [4], the
letter reporting that “plantation workforce is scarcity of opportunities for growth in
people.”
hired on a daily ad hoc basis” (http://www. science, depression among scientists (in one
Grace (“Amazing Grace”) Murray Hopper, a
sciencemag.org/content/346/6212/929.full. study, 60% of graduate students said they
pioneering computer scientist and US Navy Rear
pdf). Given the fate of the Soviet Union, I feel overwhelmed, exhausted, hopeless, sad,
Admiral
asked how equating scientists to the or depressed nearly all the time and 10%
plantation workforce could be expected to contemplated suicide within the last year;

S
ome time ago, I was reading Science’s benefit science and hence society as a http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_
Careers and cringed at the title “Can whole. magazine/previous_issues/articles/2014_02_04/
NIH renovate the biomedical work- A clue came from a recent article by a caredit.a1400031), and “doused passion” [5].
force?”. The problem was the word “work- group of prominent scientists and adminis- The severity of the malaise varies depending
force”, since its Russian equivalent was trators proposing a plan for “rescuing US on the field of study, the institution, the indi-
used by the Communist Party leadership to biomedical research from its systemic vidual laboratory, and individual scientist.
describe other citizens of the Soviet Union— flaws”, which, they argue, manifests as “the However, the overall condition has invoked
where I grew up—whom they viewed as widespread malaise” [1]. The authors call the image of the Titanic approaching its
mere cogs in a machine at the Party’s on the scientific community to “rethink iceberg [6], a situation that indeed calls for
disposal. Hoping that my past confused me some fundamental features of the US a rescue plan. I would like to suggest,
into misreading the meaning of the English biomedical research ecosystem” because however, that the proposed plan is unlikely
word, I sought clarity from my daughter, “no less than the future vitality of US to be effective because it has misdiagnosed
who grew up in the USA and graduated cum biomedical science is at stake.” Noting the the disease.
laude from Columbia University with a mentioning of “scientific workforce” in the ......................................................
degree in English and Comparative Litera- plan led me ask whether the systemic flaw
ture: she did not like the word either. that felled the Soviet Union—the leadership– “I asked how equating
Michael Joyner, my American (born and workforce system, with its top-down chain scientists to the plantation
raised) colleague, removed any doubt by of command—might also be related to the
suggesting that the title could have been systemic flaws that are taking a shot at the
workforce could be expected to
composed by an apparatchik, another Soviet US science. This commentary is an attempt benefit science and hence
term, as the word “renovate” is usually at an answer. society as a whole.”
applied to things, not people. ......................................................

T
I then realized that despite these connota- he malaise is indeed increasingly
tions, the term “scientific workforce” is incapacitating and embarrassing. Its According to the plan: “the root cause
increasingly becoming a part of the symptoms include poor reliability (in of the malaise is a longstanding assump-
discourse, not only among scientific editors one report [2], only six out of 53 landmark tion that the biomedical research system in
and administrators, but also among some cancer research studies could be verified, the United States will expand indefinitely
scientists. Perhaps tellingly, a letter to with the reliability of less prominent studies at a substantial rate. We are now faced
Science from a scientist that discussed the also questioned [3]), insufficient funding with the stark realization that this is not

Founder, Lerna Consulting, New Haven, CT, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

DOI 10.15252/embr.201541266 | Published online 13 November 2015

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the case. [. . .] the current system is in suggests a more general cause. Finally, and When symptoms can be caused by
perpetual disequilibrium, because it will most importantly, the plan does not explain more than one disease—a headache can be
inevitably generate an ever-increasing why the heads of scientific institutions have caused by stress, vision problems, or a
supply of scientists vying for a finite set of assumed for so long that “the biomedical brain tumor—physicians do what they call
research resources and employment oppor- research system in the United States will differential diagnosis by systematically
tunities” [1]. Hence, the plan proposes that expand indefinitely at a substantial rate.” analyzing the signs supporting one diagnosis
supplying more money and slowing the Indeed, the assumption that something or excluding another. Otherwise, a doctor
“supply” of scientists should cure the tangible can expand exponentially endlessly may end up prescribing new eyeglasses to a
malaise. is the foundation of market bubbles and is patient who needs brain surgery.
...................................................... associated with crowd behavior, not with How can we differentiate between the
outstanding analytical minds. two proposed diagnoses: the imbalance
“Although the imbalance between the money and the number of

T
between money and scientists here is an alternative diagnosis scientists (the money imbalance), and the
(Fig 2) not mentioned in the plan, but businessification of basic science? The
is indeed a problem, it is which is detailed in books with telling money imbalance implies that a decrease in
unlikely to be the root cause of titles such as University, Inc. The Corporate funds has caused the malaise precisely
the malaise.” Corruption of Higher Education, The Fall of because the biomedical research ecosystem
...................................................... the Faculty: The Rise of the All-Administrative is organized according to traditional rules.
University and Why It Matters, and The Last Businessification implies the opposite: that
Although the imbalance between money Professors. The Corporate University and the the malaise resulted from deliberately aboli-
and scientists is indeed a problem, it is Fate of the Humanities (see Further shing the traditional rules of basic science
unlikely to be the root cause of the malaise. Reading). These books argue that the root and replacing them with the rules of busi-
First, the malaise began to develop before cause of the malaise is the attempt to apply ness, thus making the system less robust.
the recent rise in the NIH funding, which business models of operation to basic Keeping this in mind, I analyzed the plan
nearly doubled its budget (Fig 1). Second, science, clinical research, and clinical medi- beginning with the chapter “Supporting the
funding had seen its previous periods of cine. This diagnosis, which I will call the Next Generation of Scientists”, as one can
stagnation (Fig 1) without leading to businessification of science, or businessifi- tell volumes about a system by learning how
malaise. Third, the malaise is not limited to cation for short, is not marginal, as many it treats its most vulnerable members.
biomedical research or to the USA, which scientists would confirm.

T
he plan summarizes a report prepared
for the NIH by a committee co-
40 chaired by one of the authors of the
plan (http://acd.od.nih.gov/biomedical_
research_wgreport.pdf). The report begins
billions of constant FY 2015 dollars

with a quote from Science, the Endless

Outlays of the conduct of R&D in

30 Frontier (http://www.nsf.gov/about/history/
The malaise vbush1945.htm), a document widely credited
for the success of US science over the past
70 years. It was prepared in 1945 for Presi-
20 dent Franklin Roosevelt by Vannevar Bush,
an MIT professor, engineer, and science
Health administrator who supervised most of the US
research
military research during WWII, including the
funding
Manhattan Project and the mass production
10
of penicillin. The quote reads: “The Govern-
ment should provide a reasonable number of
undergraduate scholarships and graduate
fellowships in order to develop scientific
0
talent in American youth. The plans should
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
be designed to attract into science only that
Years
proportion of youthful talent appropriate to
the needs of science in relation to the other
Figure 1. The increase of the federal funding for health-related research and the timing of the
needs of the nation for high abilities.”
malaise.
The shading indicates the increased severity of the disease, the beginning of which is difficult to time precisely This quote was consistent with the main
owing to the complexity of the condition. I placed it conservatively to the late 1980s–early 1990s based on the idea of the NIH report—the need to balance
estimate of the rescue plan, other publications on this topic, conversations with scientists, and my own funds and scientists—which could explain
experience. Funding data are from: http://www.aaas.org/page/historical-trends-federal-rd#Overview (see “By
the choice of the quote. However, by reading
Function: Nondefense Only, 1953–2016”).
Science, the Endless Frontier in its entirety, I

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EMBO reports Are scientists a workforce? Yuri Lazebnik

DIAGNOSIS A The malaise creating a well-prepared pipeline of individ-

Money and uals for NIH’s programs.” After finishing
Scientists Demoralized Primacy of Misspent reading the NIH report, I felt that merging
Imbalance scientists translational research funds
“scientific talent” with “workforce” created
MSI
“scientific workforce” by leaving out “talent”.

B
Insufficient funds Hypercompetition Unreliable ut does language matter? Can it be
per scientist for funds research used to evaluate a community? I share
the view that it can, because it can
reveal what we actually think and explains
Neglected Overlooked Flight of how we influence others. If reading Science,
basic research breakthroughs talent the Endless Frontier left me proud that I am
a scientist and taught me how a vision can
turn problems into lasting success, the NIH
DIAGNOSIS B The malaise report has left me confused. On the one
Businification of hand, the authors are clearly concerned
Basic Demoralized Primacy of Misspent about the fate of their younger colleagues.
Science scientists translational research funds On the other hand, I could not avoid the
BBS
impression that the report considers young
scientists not as unique creative individuals
Community model Business model Unreliable with “brains and character, strength and
of operation of operation research health, happiness and spiritual vitality,
interest and motivation, and no one knows
what else”, but as colonies of laboratory
Neglected Overlooked Flight of
mice that need to be maintained at a low
basic research breakthroughs talent cost, propagated in needed quantities, and
trained for use in the laboratory. The sense
of detachment, if not alienation, between
the report and the people whose fate it
Figure 2. Two diagnoses for the malaise. discusses was reinforced by my failure to
(A) Insufficient funding causes hypercompetition for money, which leads to the malaise: increased emphasis on find graduate students or postdoctoral
medical-related research at the expense of fundamental research, poor reliability of results, insufficient support fellows among its authors or reviewers. Two
for breakthrough ideas, doused passion of young researchers, the reluctance of new talent to join biomedical
representatives of the National Postdoctoral
research, etc. (B) The malaise is caused by reorganizing basic science according to business models.
Association did attend a meeting of “stake-
holders” and the “perception of being
perceived as cheap labor” was noted in the
learned that the quote was an afterthought motivation, and no one knows what else, responses to the request for information
to Bush’s main argument about the primacy that must needs enter into this supra-mathe- issued by the committee. Was this percep-
of science and that his vision reached far matical calculus.” This language might be tion justified?
beyond counting scientists. I also under- considered fanciful by today’s standards, if What kind of perception would young
stood that this old governmental document not for the reputation of the author and the scientists have if their role models describe
was so successful not only because it outli- success of his vision. them not as colleagues in exploring the
nes a plan for developing US science, but The language of the NIH report, to which endless frontier, but as an economical work-
also because it inspires by explaining how I now return, is different, beginning with the force that should be produced through a yet-
scientists and science work. title: “Biomedical Research Workforce to-be-improved pipeline in the quantities
Bush emphasized that “Scientific Working Group Report.” I learned that the required to satisfy the demand of the stake-
progress on a broad front results from the committee “was tasked with developing a holders without disturbing the balance of
free play of free intellects, working on model for a sustainable and diverse U.S. supply and demand? Would they not realize
subjects of their own choice, in the manner biomedical research workforce” because that viewing them as a workforce—cheap
dictated by their curiosity for exploration of “successful biomedical research relies on the labor, as they might read it—is now an offi-
the unknown. . .” and noted the complexity talent and dedication of the scientific work- cial policy, not the personal view of an odd
of developing scientific talent because “no force”, and found that “the level of PhD laboratory head? Would they find this confir-
one can select from the bottom those who production in 1998 exceeded the availability mation inspiring, or would it douse their
will be the leaders at the top because of jobs” [emphasis mine]. The “conceptual passion? How would the absence of passion,
unmeasured and unknown factors enter into frameworks were developed to provide the resentment for having it extinguished,
scientific, or any, leadership. There are static models of the workforce—one each for and a sense that their purpose has been stolen
brains and character, strength and health, the PhD and the MD and MD-PhD work- from them affect the biomedical ecosystem
happiness and spiritual vitality, interest and forces. . .” that it “is absolutely essential to and the reliability of research at a time when

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Yuri Lazebnik Are scientists a workforce? EMBO reports

the heads of laboratories are forced to spend in the book and thought that this term may expression. The key word is “still”. If the
most of their time writing grant applications be not as mandatory in business as the writ- malaise continues, people will come to view
and are thus absolutely dependent for their ings of biomedical scientists have led me to this disease as normal. The key question is
livelihood on what, how, or whether the assume. Instead, Thiel’s language is not whether someone who has been treated as
“workforce” discovers or imagines? unlike Bush’s when it comes to the value of cheap labor for a decade of apprenticeship
...................................................... talent. The book advises that “talented can remain an independently thinking and
people don’t need to work for you; they adventurous scientist. Perhaps those in
“. . . I felt that merging have plenty of options [emphasis Thiel’s]” whom the brilliance of mind is coupled to
“scientific talent” with and suggests to attract talent by offering the hardness and resilience of their character
people “the opportunity to do irreplaceable can make it, if they decide it is worth it.
“workforce” created “scientific work on the unique problem alongside great Others would drop out, embrace the
workforce” by leaving out people” and by explaining “why your malaise, or lose their minds. Who, then, will
“talent”.” company is a unique match for him person- find the cure for cancer?
...................................................... ally [emphasis mine]”. Thiel concludes that,

T
“for the company [PayPal] to work, it didn’t o summarize the first stage of my dif-
Overall, it was difficult to avoid the matter what people looked like or which ferential diagnosis, I found that the
conclusion that a key link that holds the country they came from, but we needed relationship within the ecosystem
biomedical ecosystem in balance—the rela- every new hire to be equally obsessed.” changed from one of advisors, trainees, and
tionship between the senior and young Hence, according to Thiel, treating people as colleagues to that of a workforce and its
scientists—has changed, and not to the mere tools was not a recipe for success in an users. This change is difficult to explain
better. Could this change be explained solely innovative and highly profitable business. solely by money shortages, but it can be
by the money imbalance? I doubt it, as the This advice led me to ask what kinds of explained if we assume the advisors adopted
change was already underway when funding models were used to businessify basic a new behavioral model, likely of corporate
was still increasing (http://acd.od.nih.gov/ research. I noted that the word “pipeline”, origin; a possibility that favored the diagno-
biomedical_research_wgreport.pdf) and because which was often used in the NIH report, is sis of businessification. I began to suspect,
depending on people and their relationships part of pharmaceutical corporate jargon, however, that the diagnosis could be more
difficulties can bring people together, not although there it refers to prospective drugs, complex because business models are not all
only pull them apart. However, the diagnosis not people. If pharmaceutical corporations alike, as Thiel demonstrates. Hence, I
of businessification also seemed unlikely, as were chosen as a role model to businessify continued my diagnosis by turning to the
I thought that treating people as a workforce science, which is what some books suggest, relationship between the senior scientists
might work in a diamond mine, but not then Thiel has some cautionary advice. He (the faculty) and their superiors and thus to
if diamonds are ideas, observations, and reminds us that pharmaceutical companies the chapter of the plan entitled “Damaging
discoveries. Why would anyone use such a live by the Eroom Law (Moore spelled in Effects of Hypercompetition”.
model? reverse; the Moore law roughly states that ......................................................
“The key question is whether
the computer power doubles every 2 years).

I
turned for answers to the book Zero To The Eroom law states that the number of
One: notes on startups, or how to build the drugs approved by the FDA has halved every someone who has been treated
future by Peter Thiel, as I thought that his 9 years since 1950 [7]. If we consider the
as cheap labor for a decade of
main advice, to create something entirely facts that some recent drugs are barely
new (Zero to One) rather than replicate better than placebo (http://www.nybooks.com/ apprenticeship can remain an
something known (One to n), also applies to articles/archives/2009/jan/15/drug-companies- independently thinking and
science. The author’s reputation makes his doctorsa-story-of-corruption/) or require a adventurous scientist.”
advice worth considering. Thiel has degrees search for a disease they can help, and some ......................................................
in philosophy and law from Stanford Univer- succeed by accident rather than by design
sity, cofounded PayPal at the age of 31, sold (http://archive.cosmosmagazine.com/features/ The plan suggests that an immediate
it 4 years later for US$1.5B, and cofounded how-i-discovered-viagra/), the trend is even consequence of the imbalance between
Palantir, a $20B company at the time of writ- more worrying. Although multiple factors funding and the number of scientists is
ing. He was the first outside investor to put are likely to contribute, Thiel contrasts “hypercompetition for the resources and
money into Facebook, has invested in “committed entrepreneurial hackers” of soft- positions”, which “suppresses the creativity,
hundreds of businesses, and founded the ware companies to “high-salaried, unaligned cooperation, risk-taking, and original think-
Thiel Foundation to support “bold thinkers lab drones” of biotech. It is not a pleasant ing required to make fundamental discover-
who pursue unrecognized truths.” His comparison, but does the insulting “lab ies [. . .] The system now favors those who
PayPal cofounders went to start companies drones” differ much from the matter-of-fact can guarantee results rather than those with
such as Tesla, SpaceX, LinkedIn, Yelp, and “laboratory workforce”? potentially path-breaking ideas that, by defi-
YouTube, testifying to the exceptional talent One can argue that I am painting an nition, cannot promise success” [1].
Thiel attracted. overly dark picture, as there are still Indeed, Brian Silver, a professor at Tech-
Given such track record, I was pleasantly many laboratories where young scientists nion, noted in his book, The Ascent of
surprised to find no mention of “workforce” “live their dream” in the best sense of this Science, that “The struggle between old and

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EMBO reports Are scientists a workforce? Yuri Lazebnik

new has rarely been dignified. Scientists not in the dark. Economists call this process for an activity that requires the utmost
come in many colors, of which the green of dualization, which “is the strengthening of concentration of the mind and spirit? I
jealousy and the purple of rage are fashion- this divide between insiders in secure, stable learned about dualization from an article by
able shades. The essence of scientific history employment and outsiders in fixed-term, an economist, who introduced the concept
has been conflict.” Maybe this is why the precarious employment” (http://blogs.lse.ac. by comparing the structure of academia to
legend that Pythagoras had a member of his uk/impactofsocialsciences/2013/12/11/how- that of a drug gang (http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/
school drowned for revealing a fundamental academia-resembles-a-drug-gang/). The out- impactofsocialsciences/2013/12/11/how-aca
flaw in Pythagoras’ model has endured siders now increasingly include faculty. demia-resembles-a-drug-gang/). Where are
throughout millennia. Has anything changed During the past three decades, the number of we going if we are inviting comparisons
lately to explain the emergence of the administrators at the institutions of higher to lab drones and drug dealers? Is it
malaise? Is it only the scarcity of money, education grew 16 times faster (369 to 23%) merely because we do not have enough
which would indeed increase the intensity of than that of tenured or tenure track faculty, funding?
the competition, or is it that the rules of the the salaries of top executives grew two- How did it happen that the self-organizing
competition also changed? Indeed, a champi- to-three times faster than that of professors, and self-maintaining system of Science, the
onship basketball game is more intense than and the institution of tenure, which provided Endless Frontier was replaced with the chain
a game at a park, but either would look dif- job security for faculty, has been steadily of command (Fig 3)? The transition had to
ferent if played by the rules of American driven into extinction (http://www.aaup.org/ be deliberate, as institutional policies are
football. To find an answer, I again reports-publications/2013-14salarysurvey). designed and implemented by people with
compared then and now. An extreme example of this dualization was authority, not by an abstract system or spon-
the case of Professor Stefan Grimm, who taneous evolution. Indeed, the cited books

V
annevar Bush advised that, “At their committed suicide not because he failed as a and articles provide examples of how it
best [medical schools and universi- scientist, but after his administrators at Impe- happened, but even without reading these
ties] provide the scientific worker rial College London, UK, not the abstract books, one can identify the role model by
with a strong sense of solidarity and secu- “system”, informed him that he either had to asking why some directors of scientific insti-
rity, as well as a substantial degree of raise more money or look for work elsewhere tutions rebranded themselves as CEOs with
personal intellectual freedom. All of these (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/ the titles such as CFO, COO, and CIO
factors are of great importance in the devel- news/stefan-grimm-inquest-new-policies- assigned to their immediate subordinates?
opment of new knowledge, since much of may-not-have-prevented-suicide/2019563. Could this change in appearances and the
new knowledge is certain to arouse opposi- article). Is dualization a recipe for success underlying thinking be explained by the
tion because of its tendency to challenge
current beliefs or practice.” Does this
description fit the current environment in
“SCIENCE, THE ENDLESS FRONTIER”” “DUALIZATION”
our scientific institutions?
While some faculty consider young scien-
tists as an economical workforce, the irony is Government Industry Industry Government
that the advisors themselves have become
viewed as a workforce by their superiors, the Board
administrations of the institutions (Fig 3).
Accordingly, top administrators now officially Self-organizing Private donors Leadership
call themselves the leadership to emphasize Public scientific community

that they no longer merely manage the institu-

Private
tion to support research, but lead scientists, donors Administrators
which implies telling them what to do. The
leadership includes administrators who
supervise finances, information technology, Workforce I
Faculty
recruitment, public affairs, buildings and
grounds, and other parts of the infrastructure,
which means that the people whose job
previously was to serve scientists are now Workforce II
Graduate students
leading them. With all due respect to these Postdocs
much-needed services and their providers, Technicians
this change does put the cart before the horse,
a rearrangement that stalls both.
Such a system, in which the chain of Figure 3. Two models for organizing basic science research: the traditional model (left) and the
command is a familiar term, is naturally current model (right).
prone to becoming a matryoshka doll of “us” The arrows indicate the interactions between the parties, with the thickness of the lines proportional to the
extent of the interactions. The red boxes indicate the parties composed primarily of scientists. Note that the
and “them”, with the inevitable of “us” vs
representation of scientists in the “leadership” and “board” varies from a majority to a minority (depicted).
“them”, in which only the outermost layer is

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Yuri Lazebnik Are scientists a workforce? EMBO reports

imbalance of money and scientists, or does for the primacy of translational research Sidebar A: Further reading
it reflect a wish to run scientific institutions beyond those indicated by Bush in his
Bruner RF (2005) Deals from hell: M & A
as a business? I favored the latter explana- warning?
lessons that rise above the ashes.
tion and proceeded to analyze the next After reviewing this symptom, I felt that Hoboken, NJ: Wiley
symptom of the malaise, the prevalence of sometimes what is not mentioned can tell Chase S (1959) The tyranny of words.
translational research. more about a problem than what is, and New York: Harcourt, Brace
Hall N (2012) Why science and synchro-
...................................................... concluded that the prevalence of translation
nized swimming should not be Olympic
research can be easily explained by businessi-
“While some faculty consider fication. The next symptom—an unsatisfac-
sports. Genome Biol 13: 171–172
Comroe Jr JH, Dripps RD (1974) Ben
tory reliability of biomedical research—was Franklin and open heart surgery. Circ Res
young scientists as an 35: 661–669
more difficult to understand.
economical workforce, the ...................................................... Donoghue F (2008) The last professors:
irony is that the advisors the corporate university and the fate

themselves have become “The leadership of scientific of the humanities, 1st edn. New York:
Fordham University Press
viewed as a workforce by their institutions realized that using Ginsberg B (2011) The fall of the faculty:

superiors . . .”
the rise of the all-administrative univer-
these bonuses to construct sity and why it matters. Oxford: Oxford
...................................................... buildings would allow them to University Press
hire more researchers to bring Shelley MW (2008) Frankenstein, or the
modern Prometheus. Oxford: Oxford
The plan suggests that the imbalance and more bonuses to build more University Press
the consequent hypercompetition lead to buildings and so on.” Silver BL (1998) The ascent of science.
New York: Oxford University Press
“the inflated value that is now accorded to ...................................................... Thiel PA, Masters BG (2014) Zero to one:
studies that claim a close link to medical
notes on startups, or how to build the
practice”, which “is detracting from an According to the plan, the hypercompeti- future. New York: Crown Business
equivalent appreciation of fundamental tiveness and the consequent pressure also Washburn J (2005) University, Inc.: the
research of broad applicability.” This state- cause a decline in the reliability of biomedi- corporate corruption of American higher
ment describes the problem, but leaves cal research, a problem that has come to the education. New York: Basic Books
unexplained who, when, and why inflated attention of the federal government [8] and
the value. Some answers can be found in the even the mass media (http://www.nytimes.
studies that date the emergence of the prob- com/2014/01/21/science/new-truths-that-
lem to the times preceding the latest crunch only-one-can-see.html). But can the pressure buildings would allow them to hire more
of NIH funding by decades. alone explain this problem? Although high researchers to bring more bonuses to build
pressure does contribute to mistakes and more buildings and so on. The opportunity

B
ush presciently warned that: “Basic increases the temptation to cut corners, is it to hire more administrators and to increase
scientific research should not, there- the primary cause? The projects that Bush their salaries was an additional benefit. Once
fore, be placed under an operating supervised during the war show that scien- funding decreased, revealing that “[…] the
agency whose paramount concern is tists can work under pressure and may even building boom is now costing the scientific
anything other than research. Research will enjoy it if it has a meaningful purpose. enterprise by creating space that cannot be
always suffer when put in competition with Hence, I thought that the money imbalance paid for.” [9], the bonuses were renamed
operations.” To put it in contemporary was an unlikely explanation for this into “perverse incentives” [1,9] “because
terms: if earning money gains priority, and symptom of the malaise. The businessifi- they encourage grantee institutions to grow
the director of a scientific institution cation also seemed unlikely because why without making sufficient investments in
becomes its Chief Operating Officer, basic would a business model promote the their own faculty and facilities” [1]. One can
research suffers. From the operational production of faulty products? The suspicion argue, however, that an incentive does not
perspective, a patent related to medicine can that I miss a yet-to-be-identified cause, a imply an obligation to use it, as other-
bring millions if not billions of dollars to the third diagnosis was reinforced by analyzing wise someone who spends food money on
institution, while wondering why petunias what is called in the plan “Perverse Incen- alcohol could complain that the liquor store
have colored patches may appear to be a tives in Research Funding”. had a sale. Hence, using the federal incen-
waste of much-needed resources (to note, tive could hardly be explained by businessi-

T
the petunia led to the discovery of RNA he US federal government and many fication, as pouring money into buildings at
interference, a breakthrough that has other funding agencies complement the expense of the people on whom the
affected many areas of medicine, from viral each research grant with a “bonus” of business depends indicates poor manage-
infections to cancer). From the operational 20%–85% of the grant amount, to cover the ment rather than a particular operational
perspective, funding from the pharmaceuti- so-called indirect costs of research, including model. Indeed, as a management consulting
cal industry is a gift from heaven, but construction and the maintenance of build- firm concluded after inspecting the institu-
this gift comes with an implied or explicit ings, utilities, and administration [9]. The tions of higher learning, “In no other
focus on research related to medicine. Do leadership of scientific institutions realized industry would overhead costs be allowed
we need to look for other explanations that using these bonuses to construct to grow at this rate—executives would lose

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EMBO reports Are scientists a workforce? Yuri Lazebnik

their jobs” (http://www.bain.com/Images/ Yet, business and basic science have

......................................................
BAIN_BRIEF_The_financially_sustainable_
university.pdf). This conclusion led me to
operated by different rules that are determined
by the primary purpose of each system.
“As systems theory suggests,
the final diagnosis, which I will call the The primary purpose of a business is to
and as Dr. Frankenstein
hybrid system dysfunction, or the Franken- generate monetary profit for its owner(s) belatedly learned, merging
stein problem. (Fig 4). This purpose has defined the basic complex systems is inherently
rules of business. First, profit is the univer- prone to produce unexpected
results”
B
usiness and basic science are complex sal and quantitative measure of how or
systems that have evolved over centu- whether a business serves its purpose.
ries side by side in continuous and However noble its goal, however committed
......................................................
often unpredictable interaction. The discov- its owners, or whatever the prior achieve-
ery by Galvani that a dissected frog leg ments of management, the business dies The question is, what would happen if
twitches when it simultaneously touches unless it produces a profit or finds a subsidy. someone decided to switch the purpose in
two metals led Volta to develop the first Second, the universal model of operation is either system? To give an example, let us
practical generators of electricity. These to sell whatever can be sold for a profit, be it assume that the captains of industry decide
devices enabled research into electricity and virtual powers in a video game or real power that profit is no longer the primary purpose
electromagnetism, and their practical appli- plants. Third, within the law, the owners of business; it is discovery. What would
cations, from the light bulb to the computer. have the final say on how their business is happen to the market forces that determine
More recently, asking why some cobs of run and what it does. what is produced, how, and when? What
corn have a mixture of differently colored The purpose of scientific research is to would the people who are in it to make
kernels led Barbara McClintock to discover- make verifiable discoveries, whether they money think and do? The entire system
ies that enabled a revolution in agribusiness. have a commercial value or not (Fig 4). The would look ridiculous and horrifying at the
In turn, business owners founded and primacy of discovery has defined how basic same time. This is not an abstract example,
funded scientific institutions named after science is organized as a system. First, scien- as this is exactly what happened in the coun-
them—Johns Hopkins, Yale, Stanford, tists are measured by the discoveries they tries subjected to communism, an ideology
Carnegie, and others—and have sponsored made and by their perceived potential to that makes profit, private property, and
research in other ways, a tradition that make more of them. This measure, known private enterprise illegal. It is enough to
continues. The heroes of innovative business as reputation, was the glue that held the mention that when my family was leaving
and science share a knack for identifying key components of the system together. Second, the Soviet Union in 1991, each person in our
problems and an obsession with finding the reputation of scientific institutions has city had ration stamps to buy ten eggs, two
a solution, testifying to the commonality been measured by their ability to enable kilos of meat (bones included), a kilo of
of how creative people, whatever they do, discovery, both by attracting discoverers sugar, and 200 g of butter per month. The
think, and act. and by providing a helpful environment. rest had to be found in the empty stores. It

BUSINESS HYBRID

Treating patients

• Produce
• Buy Publishing
• Create Sell Profit Owners
Purpose
Purpose
Discoveries Sell Profit
Maintain
and expand
the institution
“Stories”
Purpose
• Observe Verify Discoveries Anyone
Teaching
• Create Leadership
• Find
• Ask
…

BASIC SCIENCE

Figure 4. The current operational model of scientific institution as a hybrid of business and basic research models.
The flow charts depict basic organization of the three models and its main components, with the purpose of each highlighted in red. The green lines show the traditional
interconnection between business and basic science. Note that both the purpose of the hybrid and its structure are different from that of either of the parental systems, a
phenomenon observed in hybrid systems.

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Yuri Lazebnik Are scientists a workforce? EMBO reports

took just a few years of legalized profit to unlike that made by Dr. Frankenstein and consistent with their interests. A correct
make these shortages history. which turned onto its creator: neither tradi- diagnosis might help to understand what
...................................................... tional science nor business, as it is made these interests are and help scientists,

“A correct diagnosis might

from incompatible parts taken from both funders, administrators, and policymakers
bodies with good intentions but not much act accordingly, using both therapy and
help to understand what these forethought (Fig 4). Indeed, if this creature surgery. If my diagnosis is correct, the
interests are and help scien- is a business, does it make a profit? If it does preamble to a successful rescue plan would
not, why is it still in business? If it is a busi- say: “The root cause of the malaise was our
tists, funders, administrators ness, why are some of its workers engaged decision to run basic science as a business.
and policy makers act accord- in non-commercial research? If it is an insti- This approach has failed. Perhaps high
ingly, using both therapy and tution of basic science, why does it put fences do make good neighbors. Let’s learn
surgery.” money before everything else? If it is a busi- from our mistakes and start building the
...................................................... ness, who owns it? If it is a scientific institu- basic science of the future.”
tion, why has the management assigned Will the scientific community ever hear
Now, imagine what would happen if the itself the role of owners? If it is a business, this announcement? I do not know. The ship
captains of science decided that the primary what does it sell? If it is a scientific institu- is titanic in size, the inertia is comparable,
purpose of basic research is not discovery, tion, why is it involved in selling something? the captains’ quarters are comfortable, and
but profit. The system would also look If it is a business, why are the CEOs fired so the crew and passengers have come to
ridiculous and horrifying. What would those rarely? If it is a scientific institution, why assume that they have as much leverage as
who grew up dreaming of becoming great does it have a CEO? If it is a business, why they would on a military ship. I hope they
discoverers think, feel, and do? If reputation does the CEO keep his job if the company will reconsider. I also hope that the Carne-
based on discovery is no longer the makes unreliable products? If it is a scientific gies, Stanfords, and Hopkinses of today,
currency, then how should funding be allo- institution, why does it no longer strive to perhaps with some help from the govern-
cated? Hence, the search for surrogates to fill produce only truth? To avoid the word ment, will build new ships, perhaps smaller,
the void—the number of papers published, “Frankenstein”, I would call this hybrid but more agile and steered by crews who are
the number of citations, citation indexes, entity pseudo-business, by analogy to pseu- not afraid to sail in uncharted waters.
impact factors, formulas to calculate their doscience, which is an activity that pretends Vannevar Bush has proven advice on how
relative values, and all other administrative to be science but does not follow its basic to do it right and there is plenty of outstand-
inventions to keep the system operating— rules. If this hybrid has any purpose, it is to ing young talent ready to come aboard.
with the ultimate measure being the money maintain and expand itself. Finally, I hope that you will also do some-
that scientists can bring in. If discovery is no As systems theory suggests, and as Dr. thing. Otherwise, we might end up carrying
longer the primary purpose and finding true Frankenstein belatedly learned, merging smartphones that are more powerful than
answers to nature’s questions remains as complex systems is inherently prone to the supercomputers of the recent past, but
hard as it is, would the people who accept produce unexpected results [10]. An exam- keep dying of cancer or turn senile prema-
the first convenient finding for the answer ple outside of fine literature is business turely, whether we are part of the work-
have an advantage in securing funding? mergers, which have a failure rate of force, leadership, scientists, or successful
Would the people who cannot trade their 80–90% despite all the planning, managing, investors.
integrity leave science or decide not to come good faith of the parties, and the scores of
in? If discovery is secondary, is it surprising previous examples to study. As a general Acknowledgements
that the traditional model of operation— rule, the more different the systems are, the I thank Dina and Egor Lazebnik, Marta Gyselova,
discover something, verify, convince collea- more likely their hybrid would have Tyler Ross, Josh Nicholson, Michael Joyner, Nancy
gues (including reviewers) with evidence, unexpected properties. The differences Hopkins, David Vaux, Larry Gold, Frank Rösl, Carlos
publish to secure your credit as the between business and basic science are Sonnenschein, John Sulston, Andriy Marusyk, and
discoverer and letting others know about it, difficult to miss, making the malaise a Mariana Resnicoff for discussions, comments, and
use your credit to get grants, repeat—would predictable outcome. To put it broadly, encouragements.
change to something different: come up with merging love and profit has a danger of lead-
a nice story, sell it to the reviewers and ing to prostitution. Conflict of interest
editors, use the publication as a voucher to The author declares that he has no conflict of

I
get grants to produce more nice stories. If s my differential diagnosis of any practi- interest.
science is a business, why would it matter cal use? I hope so, because as in medi-
what is sold? A loss of the sense of purpose cine, solving social and behavioral References
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EMBO reports Are scientists a workforce? Yuri Lazebnik

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