Who is ultimately responsible for the integrity of the scientific literature, the enduring product of the research endeavor? Authors and reviewers clearly have a major role, but journals and research institutions should play their parts as well. Conflicts of interest and general pusillanimity, however, militate against the fulfillment of their obligations. Solutions to the problem with be proposed.
David Sanders is Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Purdue University. He received his BSc from Yale College in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and conducted his PhD research in Biochemistry with Daniel Koshland, then editor of Science, at the University of California at Berkeley. David Sanders originated the idea of the “Molecule of the Year” feature in Science. Having joined the Markey Center for Structural Biology at Purdue University in 1995, Sanders discovered a biochemical reaction that leads to the entry of cancer-causing retroviruses into cells. He is the author of two U.S. patents on novel gene-therapy delivery techniques, worked on the Ebola virus prevention program, and eg inspected the Vector laboratory in Siberia, a site of biological-weapons development in the era of the Soviet Union. He has investigated the transmission of viruses from other animals to humans; he is often invited to speak on ethics, biodefense, evolution, gene therapy, vaccination and influenza viruses and has been interviewed by media around the world about his research and the role of science in public policy.