This project analyses the evolution of the biotechnology industry in the Greater Boston Area from the 1970s-2000. During this period Boston had the densest concentration of biotech firms and housed leading academic biomedical research centers in the United States, but the development of this dense biotechnology cluster remains understudied. This project would first develop a detailed history of the biotechnology industry in Boston, conceptualizing it as an interconnected regional ecology of actors and organizations, whereas past research focused largely on the influence of individual firms, typically in San Francisco. Second, the project would focus on issues of work and labor in biotechnology, considering the extent to which the behavior of biotechnology firms and choice of their locations are influenced by the convergence of capital investment and academic culture and values. Finally, the project would use this case to conceptualize the development of bioeconomies centered on innovation in the life sciences to understand how science, universities, and public policy enable economic growth, and who benefits from it. Methodologically, the project is based in oral histories from scientists, entrepreneurs, academic experts, citizens, and government officials, and in analyses of materials in newspapers and historical archives. The project will produce a book aimed at a general readership, and specialized articles in urban history, innovation studies, and science and technology studies. The Principal Investigator will also design an undergraduate class on the history of biotechnology, maintain a collection of oral history interviews for future researchers, and contribute to museum exhibits documenting biotechnology around Boston.
Through studying the development of the biotechnology on a regional basis rather than through the experience of individual entrepreneurs or companies, the project provides a more complete picture of how the "bioeconomy,†a new species of innovation-based economic growth, developed and functioned in practice. The rise of biotechnology was not only a product of the convergence of entrepreneurship and scientific innovation, but also a consequence of shifts in the identity of working biologists and regional redevelopment initiatives by areas facing deindustrialization. In turn this entails expanding understanding of the types of people who had an impact on the industry’s growth. Addressing and analyzing these perspectives allows the project to contribute to broader discussions regarding how the life sciences, university research, and investors produce innovation and economic development, and raises concerns that current expert discussions of the bioeconomy fail to account for the protest and dissent that shadowed the development of the bioeconomy in places such as the Greater Boston Area. The project thus provides a more critical and nuanced investigation of innovation hubs in urban areas and practical information for politicians, policy-makers, and other stakeholders to understand the costs and benefits of promoting high-tech sectors.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
