The Intellectual Property Rights Regime and Scientific Practices

The Intellectual Property Rights regime has brought about a new set of interests, meanings, values, norms, etc. that have a potential to influence the practices of the scientific community in India. The research community in plant molecular biology, which is no exception to this, seems to be increasingly influenced by considerations of the potential of research for attaining patents. The study captures the emerging institutional framework of scientific research contingent upon the protocols of the IPRs and changing scientific practices. Attention is paid to the views of plant molecular biologists in India and the changing relationship between scientists and boundary organizations. This new regime is marked by the advent of the customer–funder–policymaker nexus as a prominent element in science forcing the plant molecular biologists to (re-)negotiate scientific boundaries. The commodification of science alters the idealized identities of its practitioners. The disciplines that can contribute to map different dimensions of the problem should collaborate to identify a shared perspective and suggest workable or deliverable solutions.