Questioned findings confirmed

Three studies published by a University of Wisconsin (UW) geneticist who resigned last year amid accusations of fraud have been replicated, according to her former collaborators. The researcher, Elizabeth Goodwin, was investigated by the university last year after her students accused her of misusing data on a grant application. The investigation also raised questions about data in three of Goodwin's papers, which the investigators could not verify. Since then, however, the papers' other authors and the editors of the journals in which they were published have confirmed that the results are scientifically valid. The investigation was turned over to the Office of Research Integrity at the NIH, but the ORI has not issued a final ruling. The authors of a 2005 Developmental Biology paper, including Goodwin, published a corrigendum in April after Philip Iannaccone's laboratory at Northwestern University's Children Memorial Research Center redid the experiments with new reagents and different methods. The results "came out very clearly" in support of Goodwin's original findings, Iannaccone told The Scientist. The two other questioned papers, one in Molecular Cell (which has been cited 10 times) and one in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology (which has been cited 24 times), are also considered scientifically sound. "The main conclusion of the [Nature Structural and Molecular Biology] paper we validated," Stephane Richard, a professor at McGill University and who was not a co-author on the original paper, told The Scientist."There is no indication to suggest the findings don't hold," Boyana Konforti, editor of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, told The Scientist. The findings described RNA binding sequences recognized by the protein GLD-1, which represses expression of its targets.William Mellon, the associate dean for research policy at UW, said he corresponded with authors from the Molecular Cell paper and the editor of the journal, who concluded the paper needed no corrections. "That issue has been resolved," Mellon told The Scientist. The paper described the pathway by which tra-2 mRNA (whose protein is a transmembrane receptor involved in sex determination in C. elegans) exits the nucleus into the cytoplasm. Editors at Molecular Cell declined to comment.Iannaccone's and Goodwin's laboratories collaborated in studying RNA binding protein homologs in mice and worms, respectively. "The main point of the original paper was that quaking protein regulates [the transcription factor] GLI1 by repressing translation. All that [mouse] work was done in Chicago and didn't involve Goodwin's lab at all," Iannaccone said. After the UW investigation suggested several papers, including Iannaccone's, contained questionable figures, Iannaccone recruited worm experts to assist in replicating the worm experiments.Throughout the replication of the experiments, Iannaccone said Goodwin was kept abreast of progress and signed on to the corrigendum, but they have not spoken. Goodwin did not respond to two Email requests for comment.The university investigation began after several of Goodwin's lab members noted inaccuracies in a grant application and alerted university administrators. Mellon said data for several figures could not be found during the investigation, and he alerted the journal editors and coauthors. It "didn't mean they were false, but [the investigation] couldn't verify them," he said.Goodwin resigned from UW and the school passed the investigation on to the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) at the National Institutes of Health, said Mellon. Chris Pascal, director of ORI, wrote in an Email to The Scientist that federal law prohibits him from disclosing information regarding an investigation, including whether or not one is underway.Konforti, Mellon and others said they were aware an investigation began, but did not know the progress. "I will tell you that they are considering several charges on two separate grants [with] falsified information she gave to graduate students," Mellon said.Jamie Williamson, a professor at Scripps Research Institute and Goodwin's collaborator on the Nature Structural and Molecular Biology paper, said he could not have predicted that Goodwin might have committed scientific fraud. "It's tragic how it all went down," he told The Scientist. Iannaccone said he is concerned for the students in Goodwin's lab whose careers have been tarnished by the situation. Still, he is pleased their work has been validated. "I am very very very happy to report we verified those conclusions," Iannaccone said.Kerry Grens mail@the-scientist.comLinks within this article:H. Black, "Geneticist investigated for misconduct," The Scientist, June 2, 2006.
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23520Lakiza O. et al., "STAR proteins quaking-6 and GLD-1 regulate translation of the homologues GLI1 and tra-1 through a conserved RNA 3'UTR-based mechanism," Developmental Biology, November, 2005. http:/www.the-scientist.com/pubmed/16198329Lakiza O. et al., "Corrigendum to STAR proteins quaking-6 and GLD-1 regulate translation of the homologues GLI1 and tra-1 through a conserved RNA 3'UTR-based mechanism," Developmental Biology, April 19, 2007 http://www.sciencedirect.comPhilip Iannaccone http://www.northwestern.edu/nuin/fac/iannaccone.htmS.Kuersten et al., "NXF-2, REF-1, and REF-2 affect the choice of nuclear export pathway for tra-2 mRNA in C. elegans," Molecular Cell, June 4, 2004 http://www.the-scientist.com/pubmed/15175155S.P. Ryder, et al. "RNA target specificity of the STAR/GSG domain post-transcriptional regulatory protein GLD-1," Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, January, 2004. http://www.the-scientist.com/pubmed/14718919Stephane Richard http://www.mcgill.ca/microimm/department/associate_adjunct_prof/richard/
Boyana Konforti http://www.nature.com/nsmb/about/about_eds/index.html#boyanaJ. Couzin, "Truth and consequences," Science, 313:1222-6, 2006. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/313/5791/1222Jamie Williamson http://williamson.scripps.edu/web-content/people.html

Questioned findings confirmed

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