Commentary
Twenty-five years ago I was a lab technician at a major medical research university. I finally got to be involved in immunology research, and I was very excited to have a great opportunity less than two years out of college. I didn’t really know what to expect, not having experience with a cutthroat research environment. I had no one else’s experience to draw on.
After the initial awe of the size of the place and the quality of research and the brilliance of many of the scientists wore off, I began to notice something else. Scientists could be very competitive, and not at all supportive of one another. Department seminars could sometimes end in heated arguments, with scientists in the audience trying to tear down the speaker’s methods and conclusions….