Research papers retracted at WSU, the Hutch

It was a bad week for scientific integrity in Washington.

The retraction of two research papers by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Nobel laureate Linda Buck received national news coverage. Less noticed was the final chapter in a federal investigation that found a postdoctoral researcher at Washington State University falsified and fabricated data.

The problems were associated with a single individual at each facility. Representatives from the institutions say they're taking steps to prevent future fraud and errors.

"Any time there are suspicions of ethical misdoings, it negatively impacts the scientific enterprise," said Howard Grimes, vice president for research and dean of the graduate school at WSU.

The faked data didn't change the basic conclusions of the WSU research, which found that toxic effects from pesticide exposure can persist through several generations, laboratory leader Michael Skinner said in an e-mail.

The federal Office of Research Integrity (ORI) investigation focused on the work of Hung-Shu Chang, a postdoctoral researcher from Taiwan. Postdocs are generally young scientists who have earned their doctorates but haven't landed a permanent faculty or research job. They work under the supervision of a senior scientist who is almost always a co-author of their scientific publications.

Chang was a member of Skinner's lab from 2005 to 2006. His job was a specialized type of DNA sequencing. But the ORI found Chang's raw data did not match the published results.

Grimes said Chang moved to China.

"It's my understanding he has left science," Grimes said.

WSU launched its own investigation of the suspect results in 2009, after which Skinner retracted the study published in the journal Endocrinology.

He said he has since repeated the work, verifying the conclusions. The results will be published next week.

"This does not affect the field of epigenetics, nor any of our research or past findings," Skinner wrote.

Epigenetics explores how environmental factors, like exposure to toxic chemicals, can change the way genes are switched on or off. The changes are not genetic mutations but can be inherited.

In Skinner's work, pregnant rats exposed to high levels of a common insecticide and a fungicide gave birth to pups prone to infertility. The effects extended through several subsequent generations.

Endocrinologist R. Thomas Zoeller, of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said the faked data was not central to the study.

"In my interpretation, this will turn out to be a blip — and actually not a very big one," he said.

Neither of the papers retracted by Buck was part of the groundbreaking work on the sense of smell for which she shared in the 2004 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, said Hutch spokeswoman Kristen Woodward.

The papers involved the work of Zhihua Zou, whom Buck employed as a postdoctoral researcher from 1997 to 2005. She retracted a separate paper two years ago, also after questions arose over Zou's work.

Buck and other colleagues found inconsistencies in Zou's data in all three papers and were not able to reproduce his results.

The Hutch has launched its own internal investigation.

Zou, who could not be reached for comment, has maintained he did nothing wrong and did not concur with the latest retractions.

Paul Wise, an olfactory researcher at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, said the issues involving one postdoc have not tarnished Buck's reputation.

"I think her colleagues still respect her," he said. "If this was happening with multiple players from her lab, there would be more concern."

At WSU, all graduate students are required to participate in research-ethics training, Grimes said. Several departments have incorporated such training into their curricula, and Grimes' office oversees regular newsletters that explore ethical issues in science.

"The whole idea here is to raise the level of discourse," he said. "The best way to deal with ethical dilemmas is to talk about them."

Senior scientists are responsible for the work of everyone in their labs, and WSU also has reinforced the message they should actively verify the data in all their publications, Grimes said.

The Hutch also has a research-ethics training program for graduate students and postdocs, though it is not mandatory.

In addition, the center hosts an annual bioethics colloquium and co-sponsors a lecture series with the University of Washington.

Sandi Doughton: 206-464-2491 or sdoughton@seattletimes.com