GM Paper Flagged by Politician Retracted

One of three suspect publications from a group of scientists in Italy is pulled for plagiarism while an investigation is ongoing.

kerry grens
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PIXABAY, CHRAECKERThree publications documenting the effects of eating genetically modified (GM) foods are under investigation by the University of Naples for potential misconduct, and one of the papers has been retracted.

“The case is very important also because these papers have been used politically in the debate on GM crops,” Italian Senator and stem cell biologist Elena Cattaneo told Nature.

Three papers by Federico Infascelli at the University of Naples were part of a discussion in the Italian Senate about GM regulations in Italy last year when Cattaneo found hints of image tampering. Her suspicions led to an investigation by the University of Naples, which also found evidence of data manipulation. “But, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Infascelli said that there is no substance to these allegations, and that an expert that he consulted about the papers had ruled out the possibility of data manipulation,” Nature reported.

Enrico Bucci, head of consulting firm BioDigitalValley—who ...

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  • kerry grens

    Kerry Grens

    Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

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