Alzheimer's disease is a major medical problem. It is a disease of mental decline that takes away a person's cognitive abilities, their recognition of loved ones, and their memories. Scientists have been looking for a cure for a long time. According to a new report by Science, the past 20 years of research have been based on fake data.
It is a devastating blow to Alzheimer's research, never mind those who suffer from the disease. The study, which was published in Nature in 2006 and led by Sylvain Lesné, found that middle-aged mice have memory deficits due to clumps of a specific amyloidProtein. It seemed to confirm a rising theory that toxic oligomers were the cause of Alzheimer's.
The study has become one of the most popular in Alzheimer's research this century. Billions of dollars have been invested in the pursuit of treatments. The National Institute of Health has invested over a billion dollars in Alzheimer's research in the past year.
Critics of the theory were not without their voices. Matthew Schrag is a neuroscientist at a university. Attorneys hired Schrag to investigate whether the research that led to the development of Simulfilam was legit.
Schrag investigated the study that was at the center of it all. Schrag confirmed suspicions raised by other scientists that the data presented in that study and other Alzheimer's papers were not real. He claims that a protein can be shown to be absent if it is manipulated and duplicated. In the case of the influential study, it appeared that the problematic A*56 amyloidProtein was present. If Schrag is correct, this discovery is the result of manipulation.
The evidence is concerning even though Schrag couldn't say it was a case of fraud.
Schrag told Science that he focused on what he could see in the published images and described them as red flags. Data should speak for itself.
Don't rely on Schrag's word for it. The influential study and over 70 others authored by Lesné are now suspect, with some cases of image manipulation being "shockingly blatant," according to an investigation by Science.
It's not clear that A*56 exists at all, not even to advocates of the toxic oligomer hypothesis.
Dennis Selkoe, one of the toxic oligomer hypothesis's leading advocates, told Science that there is real concern that it is not correct. Selkoe agreed with Schrag that some of the data in Lesné's paper appeared to have been altered. There is little clearcut evidence that A*56 is related to Alzheimer's in animals.
Lesné didn't reply to requests for more information.
There have been controversies in Alzheimer's research. Despite furious internal protests and a lack of evidence, the FDA approved aducanumab, or Aduhelm, last year.
It's difficult to take. As many as 5.8 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's, which is expected to triple to 14 million by 2060, the investigation could represent a disastrous setback in just about every way you can frame it.
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