“In August 2021, Matthew Schrag, a neuroscientist and physician at Vanderbilt University, got a call that would plunge him into a maelstrom of possible scientific misconduct. A colleague wanted to connect him with an attorney investigating an experimental drug for Alzheimer’s disease called Simufilam. The drug’s developer, Cassava Sciences, claimed it improved cognition, partly by repairing a protein that can block sticky brain deposits of the protein amyloid beta (Aβ), a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. The attorney’s clients—two prominent neuroscientists who are also short sellers who profit if the company’s stock falls—believed some research related to Simufilam may have been “fraudulent,” according to a petition later filed on their behalf with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”
Charles Piller. “Blots on a field?”. Science, 21st July 2022. https://www.science.org/content/article/potential-fabrication-research-images-threatens-key-theory-alzheimers-disease Accessed: 17th August 2022
A major controversy has sparked attention on a widely accepted theory about the cause of Alzheimer’s disease, threatening to discredit decades of long-term research and dash the hopes of finding a cure for a disease affecting millions worldwide.
Expressions of concern were raised about some manipulated images found in one of the most influential papers in the Alzheimer’s research field and several others from Sylvain Lesné and co-authors. This threatens to expose as false a theory that neuroscientists have long accepted, which has provided the basis for other on-going research in the same field. Additionally, it exposes a waste of billions of dollars in public funds for research, while threatening public trust in scientific findings. The claims of scientific misconduct in images showing Western blot analysis found on the target papers, were supported by other researchers and image analysts. These findings led to scientific journals, such as Science and Nature, issuing expressions of concern.
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- In your opinion, what drives researchers to manipulate images in scientific papers?
- Is it possible to distinguish image manipulation from honest errors?
- What should be the consequences for researchers that misuse public funds for research?
- What are the consequences for the advancement in scientific knowledge as a result of exposing fraudulent research?
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