Search Results for: stem cell

Nature retraction, resignation result after lung cancer cell lines “cannot be those specified”

Upon realizing they had experienced a case of mistaken cell-line identity, the authors of a 2014 Nature paper on lung cancer think “it prudent to retract pending more thorough investigation,” as they explain in a notice published Wednesday. The problem seems to stem from more than just honest error, according to corresponding author Julian Downward, a … Continue reading Nature retraction, resignation result after lung cancer cell lines “cannot be those specified”

Cell Press investigating possible image manipulation in influential yeast genetics paper

Cell Press is looking into anonymous allegations that a pair of influential papers on gene activation in yeast may contain more than two dozen instances of image manipulation, according to a spokesperson for the journal. The accusations first appeared in March on PubPeer, where they triggered a small avalanche of comments, including one asserting “unambiguous … Continue reading Cell Press investigating possible image manipulation in influential yeast genetics paper

Fat cell paper earns unusually detailed retraction

A pair of cell biologists have taken responsibility for extensive figure errors that scuttled their paper in the Journal of Cell Biology. While there were five authors, first and last authors Eva Szabo and Michal Opas took responsibility in the notice. A number of figures “contain incorrect data and/or presentation errors,” and the original data isn’t available … Continue reading Fat cell paper earns unusually detailed retraction

Update: Lab head shares “painful” process that led to Molecular Cell retraction

Last month, we published a guest post by Jean Hazel Mendoza about the retraction of a Molecular Cell paper for sampling errors, flawed analysis, and and miscalculation. Mendoza heard back from Jean-François Allemand, the head of one of the labs involved. Allemand tells Retraction Watch by email that when his group tried to repeat the … Continue reading Update: Lab head shares “painful” process that led to Molecular Cell retraction

Fraud fells Alzheimer’s “made to order” neurons paper in Cell

In 2011, a group of researchers at Columbia University reported in Cell that they had been able to convert skin cells from patients with Alzheimer’s disease into functioning neurons — a finding that raised the exciting prospect of “made to order” brain cells for patients with the degenerative disease. As one researcher not involved with … Continue reading Fraud fells Alzheimer’s “made to order” neurons paper in Cell

A rating system for retractions? How various journals stack up

Here at Retraction Watch, we judge retraction notices every day. We even have a category called “unhelpful retraction notices.” But we haven’t systematically analyzed those notices, so lucky for us, a group of academics at Vanderbilt decided to. In a new paper published in a special issue of Publications — an issue whose editor, Grant … Continue reading A rating system for retractions? How various journals stack up

Second retraction stemming from Cardiff investigations appears

A second retraction of a paper by a Cardiff University researcher found to have committed misconduct has appeared. In April, a Cardiff investigation found that Rossen Donev, a former researcher at the university, had manipulated images in four different papers. Donev, who was at the University of Swansea until August, according to his LinkedIn profile, … Continue reading Second retraction stemming from Cardiff investigations appears

Cell attributes image problems in cloning paper to “minor” errors; sees no impact on conclusions

Yesterday we reported that Cell was looking into problematic images in a recent paper on human embryonic stem cell cloning. We’ve now heard from the journal about the nature of the inquiry. Mary Beth O’Leary, a spokeswoman for Cell Press — an Elsevier title — tells us that: Based on our own initial in-house assessment … Continue reading Cell attributes image problems in cloning paper to “minor” errors; sees no impact on conclusions

Senior author “fully confident” in paper that cites retracted Cell study and shares first author

Last week, we reported on an investigation at Glasgow’s Beatson Institute for Cancer Research into the circumstances of a retraction in Cell. That retraction wasn’t signed by the paper’s first author, Lynne Marshall, who had since moved on to another institution. (We have yet to hear back from Marshall about why she didn’t sign.) As … Continue reading Senior author “fully confident” in paper that cites retracted Cell study and shares first author