Data faked in immune-system study.Michael R. Lieber thought his team was onto something novel and important. Robert B. Tracy, one of the researchers in Lieber's laboratory at the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , had found evidence that never-before-seen molecules composed of RNA RNA: see nucleic acid. RNA in full ribonucleic acid One of the two main types of nucleic acid (the other being DNA), which functions in cellular protein synthesis in all living cells and replaces DNA as the carrier of genetic and DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. played a role in creating antibodies (SN: 6/3/00, p. 363). It was too good to be true. After Lieber couldn't replicate the experiments himself, Tracy admitted that he'd fabricated the data suggesting the existence of the RNA-DNA hybrids. Tracy has resigned his position at the university. In the Aug. 18 SCIENCE, Lieber and his colleagues published a letter retracting the previous report. |
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