Eighty years of research on islet amyloidosis in Uppsala

Abstract

Science is saidto be free inSweden inthe sense that scientists are allowed todoresearchonany subject, but there is one very serious limitation: the workhas to be funded.Thelatter aspecthas become increasingly evident during later years. In many ways, research was more free decades ago whenmoremoney was directly allocated to universities and their departments. Inthisway, islandsof researchcouldmoreeasilydeveloparoundasuccessful scientist, andifhe(itusedto bemen, at least inmedical research) was lucky hemight recruit anumber ofpupilswhocould take the research further. Themostwell-knownexampleof this scenarioinUppsalaof course isCarlvonLinné (1707–1778)withhis large group of famous disciples.Onthe other hand, it is a risk that a scientific line fades out rapidly when a leading and charismatic person dies or moves. There is a multitude of examples of this phenomenon.