The Ministry of Science and Technology yesterday said that leading international scientific journal Nature Nanotechnology has decided to retract from its Web site an article penned by National Chiao Tung University professor Steven Huang (黃國華) and his student Chen Yu-hsiun (陳昱勳) on DNA polymerase genome sequencing over doubts from international academic circles about the validity of the pair’s research.
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Lin Yi-bing (林一平) said the ministry earlier this week received an e-mail from the journal’s staff about the decision.
He said that an ad hoc task force at the ministry probing the case deemed the research “highly likely to be forged” and has made a suggestion to the ministry’s academic ethics committee to punish Huang and Chen, asking that the pair’s right to apply for any further project overseen by the ministry be suspended for 10 years and five years respectively.
Screen grab from Nature Nanotechnology Web site
“Huang and Chen were unable to replicate the results of their project and failed to present the tools they claimed to use,” Lin said.
Arrangements are being made for the committee to convene, and the pulling of the pair’s article would greatly influence the verdict; however, it is still premature for any conclusions to be made, he said.
Huang and Chen last year submitted the writing on their research, which Huang claimed would greatly speed up the process of virus genome sequencing — from at least one day for every virus to one hour — thus significantly reducing the time and cost required for developing new vaccines and antivirals.
Huang said that his method was “more affordable, accurate and faster” compared with traditional means.
However, since the duo’s research was published by the journal in May last year, academics worldwide have called into question its methodology and legitimacy, saying that its results were “too perfect.”
“The data looks so good that others are wondering whether [the] researchers had help from God. If not, their paper would be worthy of Nobel Prizes from all branches of science. Strangely none of those critical breakthroughs are described in the paper,” said an unnamed contributor on online bioinformatics blog Homolog.us.
Other critics of the allegedly forged research include US scientist Stuart Lindsay, a professor of single molecule biophysics at Arizona State University, who questioned the “superconducting materials” the duo claimed to use to simulate the qualities of DNA polymerases — enzymes in human cells that are essential for DNA replication — saying: “None of us know of a superconducting material that works at the same temperature as a polymerase.”
Superconductors work at temperatures well below freezing, with even superconductors that operate at higher temperatures only beginning to react at about -135?C, while polymerases generally operate at about room temperature, he said.
Huang and Chen could not be reached for comment.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
RSS