Ethical dilemma

"When collaborations compete": article in The Scientist discusses what to do when two separate groups ask you for the same reagent to do virtually the same experiment.

Between the options of not telling either group, and telling both everything about each other, the author recommends the middle road: tell both groups that you cannot promise exclusivity, and that another group has requested the same reagent to do similar experiments. It seemed like an intuitive choice to me, but since common sense is everything but common, it's good to have potential ethical issues discussed publicly. Hope to find more articles like this one!