Tufts researcher’s paper is retracted amid ethics controversy
A scientific journal has retracted a paper written by a Tufts University researcher after the ethics of the study have come under fire, The Boston Globereports.
The researcher, Guangwen Tang, was studying the effectiveness of “golden’’ rice, a genetically engineered variety that some claim is a quick fix for vitamin A deficiency. Greenpeace opposes the rice, saying it’s “environmentally irresponsible, poses risks to human health, and could compromise food, nutrition, and financial security.’’
The study included 68 Chinese children, ages 6 to 8, who had a “marginal deficiency’’ of vitamin A—but their parents were never informed that they were eating genetically modified food, the Globe reports.
“The authors are unable to provide sufficient evidence that the study had been reviewed and approved by a local ethics committee in China in a manner fully consistent with NIH [National Institutes of Health] guidelines,’’ a retraction notice on the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition’s website explained.
Officials from Tufts confirmed to the Globe that Tang had been prohibited from conducting clinical research for two years, according to 2012 reports in the journal Nature and other publications. Concerns about this research first became public in 2012.
Read the full Globe article here.
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