For 17 Years, Swedish Scientists Were Sneaking Bob Dylan Song Titles into Their Research Papers as Part of a Bet

Since 1997, five Swedish-based scientists were involved in an interesting practice that went on for 17 years, the parameters of which were revealed in 2014. The goal? See who can use as many Bob Dylan songs in their research paper titles before retirement.

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John Jundberg and Eddie Weitzburg started the trend. Two professors at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute, they titled a research paper “Nitric Oxide and inflammation: The answer is blowing in the wind” (Predictably, it was about flatulence). However, in a 2014 story with Swedish outlet The Local, Weitzburg cleared up some things about the wager.

“We’re not talking about scientific papers—we could have got in trouble for that—but rather articles we have written about research by others, book introductions, editorials and things like that,” Weitzburg clarified. The wager began as something fun Weitzburg and Jundberg did because they liked Bob Dylan; it later evolved beyond that when two more professors joined in, and then a librarian took notice.

Jonas Frisen and Konstantinos Meletis published a paper a few years later titled “Blood on the Tracks: A Simple Twist of Fate,” which, according to NPR, was about non-neural cells generating neurons. A librarian at the institute noticed Frisen and Meletis’ paper and brought it to Jundberg and Weitzburg’s attention. It was then that the wager really took off.

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Swedish Scientists Used Their Love of Bob Dylan to Title Scientific Articles for 17 Years

Jundberg, Weitzburg, Frisen, and Meletis got together and laid out the parameters of the bet. The scientist who could use the most Bob Dylan references before retirement would get a free lunch at a restaurant in Solna, the town in Stockholm where the institute is based. According to Jundberg, that would be, specifically, the Jöns Jacob restaurant.

Kenneth Chien, a professor of cardiovascular research, joined the four other professors in their wager after they discovered his paper “Tangled up in blue: Molecular cardiology in the postmolecular era.” With that, the strange Bob Dylan fan club was complete, and the references started ramping up since there were five of them competing.

For example, Jundberg and Weitzburg published “The Biological Role of Nitrate and Nitrite: The Times They Are a-Changin’” in 2009. Frisen then published “Eph Receptors Tangled Up in Two” in 2010, and Jundberg and Weitzburg responded with “Dietary Nitrate — A Slow Train Coming” in 2011.

By 2014, the details of the wager were revealed. The five professors gained sudden popularity for their strange lyrics competition. At the time, Weitzburg admitted “I would much rather become famous for my scientific work than for my Bob Dylan quotes,” but he then added, “But yes, I am enjoying this!” However, there have been no updates on who won, if anyone. Even with sufficient internet scouring, there’s no telling if the five professors are still teaching or if anyone retired. The answer, my friend, might as well be blowin’ in the wind at this point.

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