Authors retract 2007 PNAS paper on aging due to figure’s “unintentional
anomalies”
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pnas 2515The authors of a 2007 PNAS paper that provided molecular details
for how calorie restriction may act on Sir2 enzymes to extend life are now
retracting their research after discovering a figure was compromised by “
several unintentional anomalies in the background image.”
According to study author David W. Piston at Vanderbilt University, first
author Qinghong Zhang cut and pasted images together to beautify a figure
showing how a form of sugar affects the expression of SIRT1, the mammalian
version of the Sir2 enzyme:
She claims it was unintentional.
Still, the findings remain valid, said Piston — he’s seen data from
original lab notebooks, including at least 1 other version of the same
figure, that show the same results. Other people have also since built on
the paper and reproduced its findings, he said.
We contacted Zhang, now based at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical
Campus, and will update if we hear back.