According to the June 18, 2025 statement, a figure in the 1998 paper showed duplicated control lanes, with one of them flipped. Pseudonymous sleuth Claire Francis flagged the issue on PubPeer in 2016, and reported the problem to the journal at the same time.

Corresponding author Ethel Cesarman, a professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, told us she learned of the issue with the figure from the comment on PubPeer, although she did not learn about it until 2018, "when a "Claire Francis" contacted my institution and collaborators, who then reached out to me." She said she contacted the journal about the paper after the conclusion of the investigation in 2021. "After reviewing the institution’s report, the journal makes their own decision regarding informing their readers."

Nature has issued an editorial expression of concern on a paper published 27 years ago – and nearly nine years after learning of an "irregularity" in a figure.

Source https://retractionwatch.com/2025/07/29/27-year-old-nature-paper-earns-expression-of-concern/

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