Challenge
A small, poor, communist Asian country, West Tsaipei, has recently adopted a policy of limiting the collection of plant and animal biological samples within its borders. Under the new regulations, individuals wanting any sample must apply for expensive permits which can take more than three years to obtain. West Tsaipei had no policy in regard to collection of biological samples for research by foreigners until the 1980's when an American company developed a drug that was effective in treating colon cancer. The drug came from plants found in the rainforests of West Tsaipei, but that country did not share any of the profits.You are a NIH scientist who believes that experimentation with another native plant of West Tsaipei could lead to a significant breakthrough in treatments of many other kinds of cancers. You have been waiting for West Tsaipei to process your permit application for three years now, and are becoming impatient for fear that the plant may become extinct by the time you obtain permission to collect it. West Tsaipei's economic condition has forced it to destroy much of its rainforests already to make way for farmland.
Although the West Tsaipei government will not allow you to enter their country, an opportunity to covertly acquire some seeds of the necessary plant has been presented to you by your neighbor who will be vacationing in West Tsaipei. You feel that this will be the only chance to begin experimentation with this plant, and would be glad to share the profits with West Tsaipei if the research is fruitful. Your only goal is to prove the effectiveness of the approach before it is too late and millions of additional people suffer from cancer who wouldn't otherwise have to.
Would you accept the opportunity to begin experimentation on the stolen genetic material?
Continue to #2 'Generate Ideas'
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