More at link, this is huge
Sylvain Lesné, Who Found Aβ*56, Accused of Image Manipulation 22 Jul 2022
The Alzheimer’s field was rocked this week by allegations against Sylvain Lesné at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Lesné stands accused of manipulating data images in multiple papers, including his 2006 Nature paper identifying Aβ*56 as a toxic oligomer associated with cognitive decline. The potentially altered images were found by neuroscientist Matthew Schrag at Vanderbilt University. Earlier this year, Schrag alerted the National Institutes of Health and UMN, as well as the journals that published the papers. Multiple investigations are ongoing.
A July 21 Science article by investigative journalist Charles Piller broke the news to the field at large. Science magazine conducted its own six-month investigation, in which independent analysts agreed the images showed signs of tampering.
Alzheimer's researchers expressed dismay. Most thought that even if the allegations are confirmed, the impact on oligomer research would be much smaller than the general effect of bringing disrepute to the field. “The refutation of Aβ*56 would have no impact on the huge weight of evidence that supports a role for soluble aggregates (aka oligomers) in AD,” Dominic Walsh at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, wrote to Alzforum. Mathias Jucker at the University of Tübingen, Germany, concurred. “The Aβ*56 work was just one paper among many others claiming that Aβ oligomers are key toxic species in AD pathogenesis. I do not think the field would have developed differently without the Lesné work,” he wrote.
“I am speechless about these allegations. This damages the reputation of the oligomer research field, where much good work is being done,” Christian Haass of DZNE Munich wrote to Alzforum (full comments below).
https://www.alzforum...ge-manipulation
