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posted by martyb on Tuesday May 21 2019, @05:27AM   Printer-friendly
from the will-this-be-on-my-transcriptome dept.

In 1996, the an early genomic study found a correlation between variants of the SLC6A4 gene and clinical depression. For years after, researchers wrote paper after paper describing possible mechanisms and more detailed relationships of the gene and depression.

The Atlantic has an article about how a 2005 study using better methods and a larger sample set found no correlation, but researchers continued to treat the original (weak) correlation as a valid basis for further study for years later.

"You would have thought that would have dampened enthusiasm for that particular candidate gene, but not at all," he says. "Any evidence that the results might not be reliable was simply not what many people wanted to hear."

While this may not be the only case of suspect evidence leading to mountains of papers of dubious quality in scientific history, it's certainly a very modern one that raises the question of how far the replication crisis extends into the "hard sciences" rather than just the softer sort.


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  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday May 21 2019, @07:43AM (2 children)

    by Gaaark (41) on Tuesday May 21 2019, @07:43AM (#845738) Journal

    Sounds like the current thinking in physics...yeah... everyone knows what I'm talking 'bout.

    --
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 21 2019, @08:10AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 21 2019, @08:10AM (#845743)

    the current thinking in physics is no longer "if you rock the boat, it might tip over"?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 21 2019, @11:51AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 21 2019, @11:51AM (#845768)

      Thats guam according to Hank Johnson (D-Georgia). https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v7XXVLKWd3Q [youtube.com]