In 2009, Science published a paper linking chronic fatigue syndrome with the mouse virus XMRV, prompting a flurry of subsequent studies—none of which could replicate the findings. The paper was retracted last year. The following year, Science published a paper describing a strain of bacteria that incorporated arsenic instead of phosphorus into its DNA backbone, only to publish two studies refuting the findings this July. In this case, the journal has not asked the authors for a correction or retraction, citing the self-correcting nature of the scientific process.
And these high profile examples are by no means isolated incidents. In 2011, scientists at Bayer Healthcare in Germany recounted their dismal experience in trying to validate published research on new drug targets: in more than 75 percent of the 67 studies they attempted, Bayer’s labs could not replicate the published findings. This past March, researchers at Amgen reported a similar problem, ...
