Nobel Laureate Retracts Article Findings

A Nobel laureate retracted the findings of an article published in a prestigious science journal, citing discrepancies in data collected by a junior colleague.

Linda B. Buck, who won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Medicine for her work on the sense of smell, was a Harvard Medical School professor of neurobiology at the time of publication and is listed as the principal investigator in the retracted article.

The study in question, which was published in Nature in 2001, investigated the connection between the olfactory and nervous systems of mice, but is not a part of the work recognized by Buck’s Nobel Prize.

Buck and her collaborators wrote in a statement last week that, because of an inability to reproduce and extend the results of the study, “we have therefore lost confidence in the reported conclusions.”

Buck could not be reached for comment yesterday, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where Buck now works, declined to comment.

According to the retraction notice, Zhihua Zou, who worked as a postdoctoral fellow in her lab, provided all figures and data for the paper.

Zou, currently an assistant professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch, did not return requests for comment. A statement from the university on behalf of Zou said that, while he agreed to the retraction, he was “disappointed” and “remains confident in the conclusion made in the published paper.”

University of Texas spokesperson Marsha Canright said that the school “absolutely” continues to support Zou as he reviews documentation of the study.

According to Harvard Medical School spokesman David J. Cameron, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows like Zou customarily gather much of the data for research projects. However, when the research is published, the principal investigator’s name is then listed as the senior researcher.

Cameron added that the Medical School will review the findings and research procedures through an internal committee. There is no timeline for the review process, and Cameron emphasized that it is unknown whether scientific misconduct occurred.

“There is no judgment yet as to the precise nature of what happened,” Cameron said yesterday. “This is a very preliminary process after which they will then decide how to proceed further.”

—Staff writer Athena Y. Jiang can be reached at ajiang@fas.harvard.edu.