| Summary: | Nano-enabled devices leverage two general phenomena that occur at the nano-scale: (a) transitions in physiochemical properties, and (b) transitions in biochemical interactions. Evidently, the R&D value cycle is very scientist-driven, revolving around university departments generating new opportunities for transfer of instrumentation and techniques across disciplinary boundaries in order to formulate a proof-of-concept into a successful interaction with the industry that will attain its market integration. This paper uses biosensors as an exemplar to study the dynamic structure of this innovation system, in an attempt to frame it by considering (i) its scientific basis, towards (but not through) its commercial applications (within- academy R&D), and (ii) the factors intrinsic to the technology itself (technology barriers) that could ultimately determine its rate of commercialization (R&D transfer from academy to industry). The results indicate that different research strategies decided upon at the academy level can enhance or thwart industry’s ability to appropriate the value of the university output, whereas market-oriented technology trajectories and roadmaps drawn at the industry level can increase uncertainty and risk if the diffusive and elusive nature of academic research is neglected.
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