Over 200 papers report impossible protein expression in cell lines with deleted genes
RexDouglass · x · 2026-10-21
Sholto David's blog post and preprint flag that over 200 papers report protein expression in cell lines where the relevant genes were deleted or mutated. Root causes: widespread cell line cross-contamination without routine genetic testing, and antibody specificity failures — e.g. the 'BAX-specific' sc-7480 antibody used in 1000+ papers was later shown to bind a different protein of similar size. The piece doubles as an AI-assisted literature forensics exercise, with big implications for biomedical reproducibility.
Related event: Hundreds of papers contain impossible western blots, preprint finds(2 posts)→
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