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German Team Flags Western Blot Reporting Issues

German researchers reviewed hundreds of published scientific articles to get a look at potentially problematic western blot experiment reporting and presentation methods — work they report in PLOS Biology. "Western blotting is a standard laboratory method used to detect proteins and assess their expression levels," they explain. "Unfortunately, poor western blot image display practices and a lack of detailed methods reporting can limit a reader's ability to evaluate or reproduce western blot results." Based on information in 400 cell biology papers and 151 neurosciences papers published in high impact journals, the team suggests that western blot cropping is common, while molecular weight markers, secondary antibody data, and details on primary antibodies used to perform the experiments are often missing or insufficient.

The Scan

ChatGPT Does As Well As Humans Answering Genetics Questions, Study Finds

Researchers in the European Journal of Human Genetics had ChatGPT answer genetics-related questions, finding it was about 68 percent accurate, but sometimes gave different answers to the same question.

Sequencing Analysis Examines Gene Regulatory Networks of Honeybee Soldier, Forager Brains

Researchers in Nature Ecology & Evolution find gene regulatory network differences between soldiers and foragers, suggesting bees can take on either role.

Analysis of Ashkenazi Jewish Cohort Uncovers New Genetic Loci Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

The study in Alzheimer's & Dementia highlighted known genes, but also novel ones with biological ties to Alzheimer's disease.

Tara Pacific Expedition Project Team Finds High Diversity Within Coral Reef Microbiome

In papers appearing in Nature Communications and elsewhere, the team reports on findings from the two-year excursion examining coral reefs.