Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzheimer’s Disease

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by thanatosmin on Friday October 16, 2015 @10:03PM (#10403115)

As a biomedical researcher, I'm confident in calling this sloppy science. There is no quantitation of staining differences across multiple fields (to demonstrate that the images aren't hand picked), no controls with the PCR study (or even showing the results besides one in the supplement), and no demonstration that the antibodies don't bind to amyloid. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and this wouldn't even motivate me to perform a follow up study.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by pcwalton on Friday October 16, 2015 @10:25PM (#10403159)

I'm curious: how does something this obviously flawed get through peer review for Nature?

(I believe you that this is bad science.)

Edit: I answered my own question here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Reports (Summary: It's not Nature; it's a "megajournal" affiliated with it with apparently much lower editorial standards.)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by thanatosmin on Saturday October 17, 2015 @08:44AM (#10404238)

It's hard to say--peer review isn't anything magical. Three experts read a paper and provide a recommendation to the journal editor. Ultimately, it's only the journal editor who decides whether to publish something. Unfortunately, the whole process is confidential, so in most of these cases it's not possible for most people to know what happened.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by nextos on Saturday October 17, 2015 @11:56AM (#10404790)

Exactly. Scientific Reports (and Nature Communications) is sometimes used for papers that don't get into Nature or any of its siblings (Genetics, Methods, Protocols, Biotechnology).

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by adrianN on Saturday October 17, 2015 @12:19PM (#10404878)

Can confirm. Had a paper rejected by Nature with the suggestion to send it to Scientific Reports instead. Scientific Reports accepted it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by dynomight on Saturday October 17, 2015 @06:28AM (#10403980)

This may be sloppy science, but sometimes discoveries happen in very sloppy and unpredictable ways.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by thanatosmin on Saturday October 17, 2015 @08:41AM (#10404235)

Definitely lots of exciting discoveries happen by accident--possibly most. But understanding what those discoveries actually are requires carefully designed experiments. In the absence of careful controls Occam's razor has to apply.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by dynomight on Saturday October 17, 2015 @06:49AM (#10404013)

Excuse me. Science only happens in precise and predictable ways.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by troymc on Saturday October 17, 2015 @07:30AM (#10404077)

Scientific discovery often happens by accident, i.e. unpredictably. And when you're not expecting to discover something, you're obviously not being precise about it.

A concrete example is the accidental discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation. If you Google "accidental discovery" you'll find hundreds of other examples.

Or, if you prefer an Asimov quote:

"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'"

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by amelius on Saturday October 17, 2015 @08:17AM (#10404184)

I think that even the "Eureka!" type of discoveries may be labeled as accidental.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by dynomight on Saturday October 17, 2015 @02:57PM (#10405586)

What I can conclude for sure is that the upvoting/downvoting system is very imprecise, but engaging at the same time.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by coldtea on Saturday October 17, 2015 @10:56AM (#10404545)

Yeah, just not in the actual history of science. Take the discovery of LSD for one.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Different Brain Regions Are Infected with Fungi in Alzhei... by epalmer on Saturday October 17, 2015 @11:18AM (#10404629)

I'm not a scientist and defer to your judgement as to the quality of the research method. But if there is even a remote possibility of AD being caused by or someway associated with Fungus infections than I would hope someone does follow up research that is rock solid and not sloppy.

[ Parent | on HN ]