A Bargain Made

Ananyo Bhattacharya writes at The Guardian 's Notes & Theories blog that conventional thinking in science policy says that "research lay at the heart of sustainable economic growth and should serve the public interest." Because of this, Bhattacharya says, researchers have made a "devil's bargain with the state [that] has led to a narrowly utilitarian view of science that dramatically undervalues basic research." Too close a relationship between science and business could discourage would-be researchers from pursuing science as a career, and deter those who do from pursuing problems they find interesting, he adds.