Two cases this year, both stunners.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has asked that nine research papers by former UAB scientist H.M. Krishna Murthy be retracted because his experimental findings appear to be false or fabricated.
One has already been retracted by the prestigious Journal of Biological Chemistry.
… UAB launched a probe of Murthy’s research in January 2007 after the international scientific community began questioning the validity of molecular structures he had published in respected scientific journals such as Nature and the Journal of Molecular Biology. A committee of experts who had no conflicts of interest examined all the data and did a re-analysis of each molecular structure that was alleged to have been fabricated.
UAB found a preponderance of evidence that 11 protein structures “were more likely than not falsified and/or fabricated…
… This is the second case of research misconduct at UAB reported this year. In July, two UAB scientists, Dr. Juan R. Contreras and Judith M. Thomas were barred by the U.S. Office of Research Integrity from receiving grants and contracts after falsifying animal study results. They no longer work at UAB.
… Murthy’s JBC work involved discovery of the molecular structure of a serine protease enzyme for the virus that causes the Dengue and Dengue hemorrhagic fevers. The work was important — Dengue fever strikes about 100 million people each year and kills thousands…
December 11th, 2009 at 8:08PM
A) As I understand it, none of the principals here are still at UAB.
B) Please be careful–this is UAB, NOT The University of Alabama (you know, the one that is about to win the national championship)