Facts over faces: Chinese scientists retract controversial paper

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Han Chunyu has been under a spotlight in China's science circle for more than a year, as his new gene-editing method got questioned for not really being applicable.

He was acclaimed by many as a "grass-root hero", but at the same time criticized by others for a possible scientific fraud.

All the controversies around him now seem able to be settled, or at least put aside, as Han and his fellow biologists on Wednesday retracted their study from the journal Nature Biotechnology.

But discussions on him and the subject could not be expected to dim away soon.

The retraction note in the paper. /Screenshot from Nature Biotechnology

Data speaks

The paper published in the journal's May 2016 issue, describes a fast gene-editing method, named NgAgo, that's much more convenient than current CRISPR system.

The Chinese media was very excited for such an achievement. Thousands of news stories came out, calling Han a "grass-root hero" since he does not work at any top university in China.

Chinese state media, the Guangming Daily, reports Han's achievement on the front page on May 11, 2016. /Screenshot from gmw.cn

But not so long after the study got published, many science labs around the globe said they tried Han's method but failed, a fact contrary to what Han has described in his study.

Han said he tried to defend his study and reached out to those labs to find out why they failed.

But after one year, there's still no sign that things are going to turn over.

"An independent replication of these results has not been reported," Han said in a note on the Nature Biotechnology website, "We are therefore retracting our initial report at this time to maintain the integrity of the scientific record."

The website also published an editorial titled "time for the data to speak" to analyze this issue, saying the retraction "illustrates the importance of post-publication peer review in the age of 24/7 media."

Editorial "Time for the data to speak". /Screenshot from Nature Biotechnology

Media coverage

The controversy around Han has been a hot topic on Chinese media, especially social media, ever since the study got published.

The Nature Biotechnology editorial said a media monitor "found nearly 4,000 Chinese news stories cited the Han paper in just the first two months after publication."

Extreme comments can be seen under a lot of reports online. Some showed great support, while others boast serious blame. The comments made Han one of the most controversial Chinese figures in 2016.

Credit crisis?

"I don't think it's a credit crisis," Han told media back in October 2016, "It's a science problem. They can't repeat my method, and I try to help them."

But the university he works at, the Hebei University of Science and Technology, said in a statement on Thursday that it has launched an investigation over Han's study. 

The university's statement. /Screenshot from hebust.edu.cn

The statement said Han has agreed to invite a third-party lab to test if his method really works.

It also said Han's team will go on working to find out why their study can't be repeated by others.

"This might be illegal. The investigation should go on," a netizen nicknamed "GTA4" commented on thepaper.cn.

"It's still unknown whether Han himself believes in his own study," said a comment posted by a user named "Momomo".

Some people even mentioned the peer review scandal in April, in which 107 Chinese papers got retracted by biology journal Springer Nature. The scandal led to a crackdown launched by the Chinese government against academic paper fraud.

It's still unknown whether Han's study was a mistake or a fraud.