How much do scientists care whether their results are correct?
The story of cell culture contamination is an interesting one. For
example:
... Nardone has for more than 2 decades educated graduate students and postdocs at NIH about cell culture techniques. “Each year, I give a lecture on cross contamination,” he says. “And each year, I get the same blank stares that tell me they aren’t adopting the techniques.” In 2005, he happened to give this lecture on his 77th birthday. After the class, when his son asked him whether he had a birthday resolution, Nardone realized that he was “so damn mad” about the reluctance of scientists to acknowledge the seriousness of the problem that he decided to do more than give an annual talk to a few biologists.
http://www.cogcell.org/dl/news/Science_Mistaken_Identity.pdf
Walter Nelson-Rees had been the person most responsible for warning
about widespread cell culture contamination. His work during the 1970's
at the Cell Culture Laboratory in Oakland had made a lot of people
angry:
Criticism of our modus operandi and our spreading the word on a morass of contamination problems did not endear us to many colleagues. Not too-well-kept secret attempts to cancel our [NIH] contract by powerful colleagues at the source surfaced. My ethics were questioned. Rumors of 'let's get him' were heard. An unsigned telegram offering me a position in Uganda, including a one-way ticket there, was perhaps the least friendly response.
http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royptb/356/1410/849.full.pdf
Nelson-Rees retired at the age of 51 "at the height of his
renown":
https://sivb.org/InVitroReport/39-1/lifetime.htm
Already stretched for lack of funding, the Cell Culture Laboratory
closed a year later:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?pid=123425949
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