posted on Mar, 15 2009 @ 06:33 PM
Dr. Sellos was having a bad afternoon.
And when Dr. Wheel came in to see him, all bright and excited about his new idea, Dr. Sellos decided to blast this new junior associate with both
guns.
"I am always amazed," said Dr. Sellos, "that you young researchers come in, thinking you've got some great secret and undiscovered new approach to
Cancer research. It is naïve. And actually, I find it kind of offensive. It is a slap in the face to the senior staff. Don't you think we've looked
at this before? Or do you think yourself a genius, and we are all morons? "
Dr. Sellos let the question hang, and Dr. Wheel squirmed in his chair. Although he had posed what was obviously a rhetorical question, Dr. Sellos
leaned forward, as if to demand an answer.
"Ah – yes sir," said Dr. Wheel, squirming in his chair. "I understand that microphages have been tried many times before, Dr. Sellos. But this
particular approach…"
"Spare me!" Dr. Sellos interrupted. "There is always some 'new approach', to waste time on. There is nothing to be gained from this conversation.
The study of microphages has yielded nothing – we've been down that road many times. And you would know that, if you had spent as much time
researching this topic as you have pestering my secretary for an appointment. I am not going to squander time on this. Doctor, you have other
assignments! Get your act together, focus in on what we are doing as a team, or look for some other research project!"
Dr. Wheel left the office, apologizing profusely. He returned to his office totally dejected. For a moment, he briefly considered quitting the team,
perusing his research independently. But he was planning to be married, and he needed the money. Biomedical research positions were difficult to come
by. Sadly, Dr. Wheel boxed his research papers, and sent them to the archives.
Because of that unfortunate afternoon, it would be nearly fifty years before the cure for Cancer, which Dr. Wheel had invented and been ready to
outline in detail, was rediscovered.
Dr. Wheel, having thought of this cure many years before, would receive no absolutely no credit. And he would never be vindicated either. Because, in
what was unremarkable irony, Dr. Sellos and Dr. Wheel had joined the ranks of 25% of all people before that cure. Both had succumbed and died of
Cancer years before.