A PLOS One study from Claude Fauquet's lab at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center purporting to show that cassava could be genetically modified to express zeolin, transforming the plant into one that could supply protein, has been retracted, reports Ivan Oransky at Retraction Watch.
According to the retraction notice at PLOS One, "the authors have been unable to confirm the presence of the zeolin gene within the transgenic cassava plants in several subsequent studies" and an internal investigation at the Danforth center found that "significant amounts of data and supporting documentation that were claimed to be produced by the first author could not be found." The first author, Mohammad Abhary left the Danforth Center in 2011.
James Carrington, the president of the Danforth, tells Retraction Watch that "this really shined a bright light on the need to document research through processes that were well-known through training, and that could be tracked, whereby data were preserved for periods of time that met national standards."