A Nobel prize winner has come out and retracted her paper after it caused controversy in the scientific community. Frances Arnold’s research data was not reproducible by other scientists. She announced this on her twitter account and acknowledged that her work on enzymatic synthesis had failed to be reproduced again.
Frances Arnold has retracted her paper on the enzymatic synthesis of beta-lactams which had been published in the journal in May 2019. The American scientist decided to retract the paper after other researchers failed to replicate the results of the study. The authors of the study also found that some data was missing from a lab notebook.
Frances Arnold shared the 2018 Nobel prize with George P Smith and Gregory Winter for their research on enzymes. Ms. Arnold acknowledged that during the research, she was busy and did not have time to verify everything she put out on the paper.
Frances Arnold offers apology
In a tweet admitting to her mistake which read in part,
For my first work-related tweet of 2020, I am totally bummed to announce that we have retracted last year’s paper on enzymatic synthesis of beta-lactams. The work has not been reproducible, It is painful to admit, but important to do so. I apologize to all. I was a bit busy when this was submitted, and did not do my job well.
For my first work-related tweet of 2020, I am totally bummed to announce that we have retracted last year's paper on enzymatic synthesis of beta-lactams. The work has not been reproducible. https://t.co/Dk1TFw0FY9
— Frances Arnold (@francesarnold) January 2, 2020
In the scientific community, for an experiment to be successful, the reproduction of the results is essential as part of validating the research. Ms. Arnold’s research, however, could not be replicated and caused controversy within the scientific community.
The response to Frances Arnold’s admittance that her research had errors was received positively by her followers. A lot of her followers were pleased with her courageousness and encouraged her to continue with her scientific research. Her honesty was also commended after she admitted she had made a mistake in her research.
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