The whole time the scientist running the experiment would urge the teacher to continue shocking the learner at higher and higher levels.

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The company running the experiment, VaxInnate, a closely held biotech firm, is working on technology that could derive in only six weeks a new vaccine for the H1N1 swine flu, the virus causing the global scare.

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So it may be no surprise to learn that although the staff have some catching up to do the week after the experiment, the running of the company doesn't appear to have been affected.

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He is running an experiment, called the Personal Genome Project, in which other people are encouraged to do so, too.

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Now it seems the firm may have done its rivals a favour by running a live consumer experiment on their behalf.

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