This article is the result of the study of the process of incorporating research into an institutional milieu originally devoted to teaching and what the relationship is between these two activities, converting the institution studied into a body which provides education through scientific research. It is about the case of the Department of Biology School of Sciences of UNAM. Research in this community has been implemented with the creation of thirty-nine laboratories, all of them designed to support teaching. The intention of the analysis is to try to explain that what has happened in the Department of Biology since the mid-sixties (1964) is a significant achievement among academic institutions in Mexico and around the world. The subject was addressed along three analytical axes: Discipline, institution, and major. However, the centerpiece was discipline. Each of them existed throughout the history of the institution from 1915 to 1994. The paper analyzes the development of biology through the process of institutionalization. It corroborates, under the proposed analytical framework, that discipline with its mechanisms of evolution provides opportunities for linkages between teaching and research and periods of separation of these two functions. The notion of discipline helped develop the conjecture that what happened in the Department of Biology was part of the academic (cognitive) development of the field and that this occurred through the process of integration and diversification and that the two processes were consecutive. At the same time, it was understood that in the pursuit of both mechanisms, the disciplines evolved and assured their own continuity, and that this occurred beyond the influence of external factors and the rise of research in the international arena. These processes are undoubtedly contributing factors, but without proper disciplinary advances they would not have resonance. We concluded that this could be a model for the interpretation of the historical work of other institutions and disciplines. Furthermore, it underscores the idea that respect for and understanding these processes is essential to enable the advancement of scientific development in our country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]