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As our own project is tools-based rather than directed towards solving a specific problem we looked into the issues surrounding blue-sky research. We also categorised last year's iGEM projects into problem-driven and tools-based groups to see how teams respond to the freedom of picking any type of project.
It was interesting to consider the projects which lay on the border between project-types and were therefore difficult to categorise. Given more time, the next stage in this research would be to categorise further years, compare iGEM projects to more traditionally funed projects and talk to teams about their motivation for research.
Below is a table of last year's projects as we categorised them and a bibliography with some of the things we have been reading in relation to this topic.
Bibliography
Aldrich et al (2008) Vol 4 No 1, Scenarios for the future of synthetic biology, Gen Publishing
Bubela et al (2009) Vol 27 No 6, Science Communication Reconsidered, Nature Biotechnology
Burchel et al (2009) Public Culture as Professional Science, London: Centre for the Study of Bioscience, Biotechnology and Society
Calvert, J. (2002) Goodbye Blue Skies?, University of Sussex
Kell et al (2003) BioEssays 26.1, Here is the evidence, now what is the hypothesis?, Wiley InterScience
Ledford, H. (2010) Life Hackers, Massachusetts: Macmillan Publishers
Rip, A. (2006) Science as Culture Vol. 15 No.4, Folk Theories of Nanotechnologies, Routledge
