On reflecting on science as a guild, we might have high hopes...
We could think of able craft men; creating master proofs and more.
Alas, that is a thing of the past, and not what we think of as guild now.
Now it is rather a rather protective bunch of people monopolising a trade.

We recognise the guild of the printers in the copy right protection.
We see the medical guild behind the printed ‘medical disclaimers’.
We see the banksters guild behind the ‘laws against money forgery’.
And we recognise the guild of science behind all their diplomas.

From apprentice to craftsman, journeyman, master and grandmaster.
Now called Freshman, Bachelor, Master, Doctor, and Post-doctorate.
It is an initiation into a way of thinking, and consensus conduct.
This is the format of a secret society, defining its own membership, and own oaths.

Wikipedia has some interesting entries on the Guild system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild):
“Guilds were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society.”
“An important result of the guild framework was the emergence of universities at Bologna, Paris, and Oxford around the year 1200; they originated as guilds of students as at Bologna, or of masters as at Paris.”
“(They were) called "guilds" (for the gold deposited in their common funds)”.

The one sub-society (guild) which regulates society is the (gold) guild of the banksters.
In fact, the name “Guild” (society of craftsmen/traders) derives from its store of gold.
This means that the guild of the gold is in fact the regulatory society in society.
This is what we still see at present: financial interests determine the conduct of scientists.

The Guild of the Goldsmiths (the bankers a.k.a. the banksters) is not just about gold trade.
It has become connected with a set of rules and regulations (the UCC) to ensure payment.
The UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) is a set of rules/regulations for international payment.
They are private laws, not subject to any government, yet decisive for government/societies.

In science, we see that as a guild it is subservient, not independent.
The bankers (funding/grants) decide what is (not) studied.
The politicians (‘education’) specify requirements for admission and graduation.
To the extent that science still operates as a guild, we still live in the middle ages.