Forces Driving More
research still referred to the “purest realms of science.” Such research
was driven by curiosity and undertaken to unlock the unknown, and
was “performed without thoughts of practical ends.” But for poli-
ticians, basic research meant uncovering “practical applications” that
furthered “industrial development.” Basic research was driven by
tangible outcomes like making money. Speaking of agriculture, Bush
cited “the control of our insect enemies” and the “cure of livestock
diseases,”^ examples that blurred the distinction between research that
advanced knowledge with no immediate payoff, on the one hand,
and on the other hand, research that was “embedded in commercial
possibility.”
Issued at the tail end of the war, the report bolstered public sup-
port for funding in health, defense, and other sectors of the economy.
Congress signed off on expanding research funding—provided there
were identifiable benefits to society. Unlike the period before World
War II, research funding was no longer the domain of food and agri-
culture. The success in boosting America’s food and fiber production
had ironically helped shift research funding toward other priorities.
Within five years, the National Science Foundation was created. Over
two decades, government supported research increased by more than
a factor of ten. Funding provided to other federal agencies soon leap-
frogged funding apportioned to USDA as well as state and land-grant
universities. By , USDA received less than percent of total federal
research and development funds.
In December 98 , in the midst of a stagnant economy, Congress
passed the Bayh-Dole Act. The intention, along with future legislation
that tied up loose ends, was to jump-start economic growth by using
“the patent system to promote the utilization of inventions arising from
federally supported research or development.” Prior to the Bayh-Dole
Act, any discoveries from taxpayer-funded research belonged to the
public. With the new laws in place, taxpayers still anted up the research
dollars, but institutions like universities now owned the discoveries,
including any intellectual property rights. Free to negotiate licensing
agreements, institutions could pocket any and all royalties or revenues
earned.
In , The Economist called the Bayh-Dole Act “possibly the
most inspired piece of legislation passed in America over the past half-