Charles Piller

Now that drug crashed and burned, is no longer being even thought about as a possible remedy for Alzheimer's. It's a long story I tell in the book, but I'm going to pause away from that for now and talk about why that led to this bigger set of issues. And that's because

Now that drug crashed and burned, is no longer being even thought about as a possible remedy for Alzheimer's. It's a long story I tell in the book, but I'm going to pause away from that for now and talk about why that led to this bigger set of issues. And that's because

Schrag, who is himself a neuroscientist who researches in a lab some of the potential causes of Alzheimer's disease, and also somebody who treats Alzheimer's patients, because he's also a physician who is a neurologist who has patients who have the disease. And he... had over the many months begun to hone his ability to see potential doctoring and scientific images.

Schrag, who is himself a neuroscientist who researches in a lab some of the potential causes of Alzheimer's disease, and also somebody who treats Alzheimer's patients, because he's also a physician who is a neurologist who has patients who have the disease. And he... had over the many months begun to hone his ability to see potential doctoring and scientific images.

And what I mean by that is he could look at images, say, of brain tissue, magnifications of brain tissue, and be able to look at them and see the possibility that someone had used a program like Photoshop to move some things around or to obscure certain elements of the image or to copy elements and clone them within an image

And what I mean by that is he could look at images, say, of brain tissue, magnifications of brain tissue, and be able to look at them and see the possibility that someone had used a program like Photoshop to move some things around or to obscure certain elements of the image or to copy elements and clone them within an image

all to accentuate a point that was being made for a scientific paper, but to do so improperly in a way that is essentially a kind of scientific cheating. And because he had developed the talent for seeing these things from looking at this, initially looking at the science behind this drug, semufilam, he was looking more broadly to expand his ability to do this.

all to accentuate a point that was being made for a scientific paper, but to do so improperly in a way that is essentially a kind of scientific cheating. And because he had developed the talent for seeing these things from looking at this, initially looking at the science behind this drug, semufilam, he was looking more broadly to expand his ability to do this.

And he, in a way, kind of just by accident ran across one of the seminal studies in the history of Alzheimer's disease. Now, this was a study done in 2006 at the University of Minnesota. And what this study did, if I could just

And he, in a way, kind of just by accident ran across one of the seminal studies in the history of Alzheimer's disease. Now, this was a study done in 2006 at the University of Minnesota. And what this study did, if I could just

use a few, a little bit of scientific explanation to bring this experiment to life for listeners a little bit, is that it involved a group that was using genetically engineered mice to produce copious amounts of a protein that deposits in their brains. This protein is called amyloid.

use a few, a little bit of scientific explanation to bring this experiment to life for listeners a little bit, is that it involved a group that was using genetically engineered mice to produce copious amounts of a protein that deposits in their brains. This protein is called amyloid.

And it is thought by many, many, many people to be the linchpin of Alzheimer's disease, the thing that kicks off a series of biochemical effects in the brain. that leads to cell death in the brain and ultimately to dementia.

And it is thought by many, many, many people to be the linchpin of Alzheimer's disease, the thing that kicks off a series of biochemical effects in the brain. that leads to cell death in the brain and ultimately to dementia.

And so what he was doing when he kind of stumbled on the study and was looking at its images is that he realized that there were some big questions about whether these images were improperly changed. And so I remember the first conversation that Schrag and I had about the images in this seminal paper that had appeared in the journal Nature.

And so what he was doing when he kind of stumbled on the study and was looking at its images is that he realized that there were some big questions about whether these images were improperly changed. And so I remember the first conversation that Schrag and I had about the images in this seminal paper that had appeared in the journal Nature.

Now, you remember I said that the journal I work for, Science, is one of the preeminent scientific journals. Nature also is kind of its counterpart. Science and Nature are two journals that are often thought of in the same light as being the most important general science journals out there. And so to get an article into Nature means that you're really hitting

Now, you remember I said that the journal I work for, Science, is one of the preeminent scientific journals. Nature also is kind of its counterpart. Science and Nature are two journals that are often thought of in the same light as being the most important general science journals out there. And so to get an article into Nature means that you're really hitting

something really important and potentially could have a lot of influence. And this study had enormous influence. It was one of the most cited and discussed studies in Alzheimer's disease for a very long time. And The way the experiment went was this. They extracted these proteins from the brains of these genetically engineered mice.

something really important and potentially could have a lot of influence. And this study had enormous influence. It was one of the most cited and discussed studies in Alzheimer's disease for a very long time. And The way the experiment went was this. They extracted these proteins from the brains of these genetically engineered mice.