Public Research for Private Gain

UC Regents recently approved a new corporate entity that will likely give a group of well-connected businesspeople control over how academic research is used.

By Darwin BondGraham

In a unanimous vote last month, the Regents of the University of California created a corporate entity that, if spread to all UC campuses as some regents envision, promises to further privatize scientific research produced by taxpayer-funded laboratories. The entity, named Newco for the time being, also would block a substantial amount of UC research from being accessible to the public, and could reap big profits for corporations and investors that have ties to the well-connected businesspeople who will manage it.