COVID-19 spike protein paper earns an expression of concern

A virology journal has issued an expression of concern about a paper claiming that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can damage DNA after one member of the research team raised reservations about the reported findings. 

The article, “SARS-CoV-2 Spike Impairs DNA Damage Repair and Inhibits V(D)J Recombination In Vitro,” was written by a pair of scientists at institutions in Sweden and published in MDPI’s Viruses (as Vincent Racaniello of TWiV would say, the kind that make you sick).

The paper has received a fair amount of attention – particularly among vaccine skeptics who, as critics noted, used the article to buttress their claims that Covid vaccines are unsafe – generating enough buzz on social media and in the news to make it into the top 5% of all articles tracked by Altmetric. TWiV even devoted part of an episode of the show to the findings. 

According to the journal: 

We are issuing this expression of concern in consultation with the publisher to fulfil their reporting obligation regarding the publication [1] mentioned above.

One of the authors has raised concerns regarding the methodology employed in the study, the conclusions drawn and the insufficient consideration of laboratory staff and resources.

In order to keep the highest scientific standards, an in-depth investigation is initiated by the responsible editors together with the journal’s editorial office in collaboration with the editorial board, and in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance. The article will be updated and any necessary corrections made at the conclusion of the investigation process.

Neither the authors nor the handling editor have responded to requests for comment from Retraction Watch about the specific concerns and what “insufficient consideration of laboratory staff and resources” means.

Update, 1830 UTC, 1/14/22: The handling editor forwarded our request for comment to MDPI, whose head of publication ethics Damaris Critchlow responded:

At the present time, the Expression of Concern serves as MDPI’s public statement. An update will be made available upon finalisation of an investigation.

We asked whether MDPI would consider explaining what “insufficient consideration of laboratory staff and resources” means, and will update with anything we learn.

Like Retraction Watch? You can make a one-time tax-deductible contribution by PayPal or by Square, or a monthly tax-deductible donation by Paypal to support our work, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, add us to your RSS reader, or subscribe to our daily digest. If you find a retraction that’s not in our database, you can let us know here. For comments or feedback, email us at [email protected].