Dr. Trotter is a molecular geneticist who applies Darwin’s
principle “survival of the fi ttest” to his laboratory environment. Each year,
he hires two new postdoctoral students for one year. He assigns them both to
work on the same experiment. Whoever fi nishes the work fi rst, with
reproducible results, will get to be an author on a paper; the loser will not.
He runs several such contests during the year. At the end of the year, the
postdoctoral student who has the best results will be hired for a three-year
position, and the loser will be terminated. What do you think about this Dr.
Trotter’s policy? Is it ethical?
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