Search Results for: "western blots"

One in 25 papers contains inappropriately duplicated images, screen finds

Elisabeth Bik, a microbiologist at Stanford, has for years been a behind-the-scenes force in scientific integrity, anonymously submitting reports on plagiarism and image duplication to journal editors. Now, she’s ready to come out of the shadows. With the help of two editors at microbiology journals, she has conducted a massive study looking for image duplication … Continue reading One in 25 papers contains inappropriately duplicated images, screen finds

Lawsuit couldn’t stop four retractions for diabetes researcher

Four expressions of concern in the journal Diabetes have turned into retractions for Mario Saad, a move which he had tried to stop with a lawsuit. Last August, a judge dismissed Saad’s suit against the American Diabetes Association, which publishes Diabetes, concluding that the expressions of concerns on the papers were not defamation, but part of an “ongoing … Continue reading Lawsuit couldn’t stop four retractions for diabetes researcher

Second of 3 retractions appears for biologist, the result of “a substantial number of falsifications”

A cell biologist who falsifed Western blots has notched a second retraction, with one more expected after a investigation at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. First author Sudarsanareddy Lokireddy, now apparently a research fellow at Harvard, did not agree to the retraction, the result of “a substantial number of falsifications.” In December, we covered the results of the NTU … Continue reading Second of 3 retractions appears for biologist, the result of “a substantial number of falsifications”

Voinnet’s notice count grows, as he notches his 18th correction

Olivier Voinnet, a high-profile plant scientist at ETH Zurich, has earned a mega-correction. It wrapped up a rough year for the biologist, which included his seventh retraction, and a CNRS investigation that found evidence of misconduct. This latest correction, to a paper on the mechanisms behind RNA silencing in Arabidopsis, was published in RNA. The 2007 paper has been cited … Continue reading Voinnet’s notice count grows, as he notches his 18th correction

Singapore investigation leads to two retractions, two more on the way

Authors have retracted papers from Cell Metabolism and the Journal of Biological Chemistry after an investigation in Singapore found issues, including falsified data. The investigation is ongoing, and two additional retractions, along with two corrections, are on the horizon. The investigation looked into papers by first authors Sudarsanareddy Lokireddy, now a postdoc at Harvard, and Sandhya Sriram, a postdoc at the … Continue reading Singapore investigation leads to two retractions, two more on the way

“Carelessness” forces Science to correct paper about immune booster

Science is fixing images in a paper published online in April that discovered an immune-boosting protein, after the authors mistakenly mixed up similar-looking Western blots. The paper, which received some press coverage, identified a protein that helped the immune system fight off cancers and infections. Philip Ashton-Rickardt, a scientist at Imperial College London who led the study, … Continue reading “Carelessness” forces Science to correct paper about immune booster

Correction “does not change the scientific meaning” of leukemia letter

The journal Blood has issued a correction in a 2009 letter about the molecular underpinnings of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Despite the extent of the changes to a figure, “the error does not change the scientific meaning,” according to the erratum. The article “p73, miR106b, miR34a, and Itch in chronic lymphocytic leukemia” was written in response to a 2009 Blood … Continue reading Correction “does not change the scientific meaning” of leukemia letter

Inquiry into duplications reveals “multiple” image problems in tumor study

A paper on how abnormal stem cells can cause benign bone tumors has been retracted by Cell Stem Cell after an inquiry into image duplications also uncovered “multiple instances of inappropriate western blot image adjustment.” The first two authors “declined” to sign the retraction, according to the notice. Besides confirming initial suspicions that images had been … Continue reading Inquiry into duplications reveals “multiple” image problems in tumor study

Penn State postdoc faked data in cancer manuscript

A former postdoctoral fellow at Penn State University faked numerous data and analyses in a manuscript submitted to Molecular Cancer Research, according to the Office of Research Integrity (ORI). In a notice released today, the ORI found Julie Massè:

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