What's Going on with Alzheimer's Research

 Research on Alzheimer's disease has proved enormously difficult.  The condition condemns many aging people to a life without memories and without the ability to relate to loved ones of to function independently.  One line of research has revolved around a particular class of proteins referred to as amyloid beta proteins thought to be involved in the disease.  Jackie Flynn Mogenson reports in Mother Jones on an investigation suggesting that key papers on the amyloid beta hypothesis include data that may have been tampered with.  It appears that figures in the paper have been subtly manipulated.  The figures are digital reproductions of what are called Western Blots which have blots whose position and intensity indicates the identity and abundance of particular proteins in a sample.  An example is shown below:

Western Blot

This may have done for cosmetic reasons.  The authors claim that it does not change the research conclusions, but that the paper should be withdrawn anyway to remove doubts about the basic reliability of the research.  There is now a large body of research referring to the papers in question suggesting that viability of the beta amyloid hypothesis but Alzheimer's research is still evolving and the issues are manifold and complicated.  The difficulty caused by this revelation, however, is evidenced by the fact that at least one popular commentator (Tucker Carlson) has cited the report as evidence that the whole scientific enterprise is corrupt and unreliable.  His arguments are simplistic and specious, but that will not be evident to many who hear him.