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Doctored by Charles Piller review – the scandal that derailed Alzheimer's research

Doctored by Charles Piller review – the scandal that derailed Alzheimer's research

The Guardian20-02-2025

Living to old age is quite literally the best thing that any of us could hope for, given the alternative. It's a cruel irony, then, that many of us who make it that far will begin to lose our sense of who we are due to dementia. If you're 65, you've got about a one in 20 chance of developing the most common form, Alzheimer's disease, in the next decade. At 75, it's about one in seven, while those fortunate enough to reach 85 face a one in three chance.
Given the toll this illness takes on sufferers and those around them, hundreds of millions of families around the world are desperate for a medical breakthrough – and for years, headlines have suggested that it might be imminent. Scientists had identified the cause of Alzheimer's, they promised, and potential cures were already being tested.
The subtitle of Doctored – Fraud, Arrogance and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's – serves as a spoiler as to how that story ends, at least for the moment. The fraud uncovered by a rag-tag group of researchers into academic integrity and extensively documented here by Charles Piller, an investigative journalist for the magazine Science, feels like the kind of scandal that should have had wall-to-wall coverage. And yet, outside scientific circles, it remains relatively low-profile.
The story is complicated, but a summary might go like this: for decades, something called the amyloid hypothesis has dominated research into Alzheimer's, determining how billions of dollars of public and private funding into new drugs was spent. The brains of people who had died with it showed clumps of sticky protein – called amyloid plaques – between neurons. It seemed logical that these might be responsible for the disease's symptoms. And while this became the main line of inquiry, it never quite delivered on its early promise. Many people with amyloid plaques didn't have signs of Alzheimer's, for example. Something seemed to be missing.
And then came what seemed like decisive proof: a 2006 paper from the University of Minnesota, which went on to become one of the most cited in the field, showed that a sub-type of amyloid led to memory impairment. It wasn't until 2022 that scientific sleuths suggested that key images on which the research relied might have been Photoshopped to better fit the hypothesis. At first, the scientists fought back against the claims, but the 2006 paper has now been retracted, as have others based around the same findings. As the book explains, investigations continue and several key figures involved deny any knowledge of wrongdoing.
The implication is that years of work and billions of dollars spent on Alzheimer's research may have been carried out on the basis of fraudulent evidence. The scale of the harm caused and damage done is likely to be incalculable.
Piller handles the difficult material patiently and meticulously, as you would expect of an experienced specialist reporter. As the book continues, it becomes an ever more uncomfortable read: the tale starts with the alleged fakery of images by one, or a handful, of scientists. By the end, we're left wondering if any research can really be trusted.
Doctored is clearly the result of brilliant and dogged journalism, but at times all of this work is easier to admire than it is to read. Piller tries to humanise his narrative with pen portraits of key figures, but his habit of doing several of these in a row – and formulaically telling us everyone's place of birth and what their parents and grandparents did – gets repetitive and frustrating.
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That's a pity, as the scandal at the book's heart is one that more people should know about. The scientists behind the fraud may have set back the quest to find treatments for Alzheimer's by many years. For those making decisions on the future of scientific and medical research, this book should be compulsory reading.
Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's by Charles Piller is published by Icon (£20). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

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Daily Mail​

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Hobby enjoyed by millions reduces chance of getting young-onset dementia by 40 per cent, scientists discover

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Edinburgh will get its supercomputer after all
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Women worldwide, on average, are having fewer children now than previous generations. The trend, down to increased access to education and contraception, more women taking up jobs and changing attitudes towards having children, is expected to see dozens of countries' population shrink by 2100. Dr Jennifer Sciubba, author of 8 Billion and Counting: How Sex, Death, and Migration Shape Our World, told MailOnline that people are choosing to have smaller families and the change 'is permanent'. 'So it's wise to focus on working within this new reality rather than trying to change it,' she said. Sex education and contraception A rise in education and access to contraception is one reason behind the drop off in the global fertility rate. Education around pregnancy and contraception has increased, with sex education classes beginning in the US in the 1970s and becoming compulsory in the UK in the 1990s. 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Declining sperm counts Reproductive experts have also raised the alarm that biological factors, such as falling sperm counts and changes to sexual development, could 'threaten human survival'. Dr Shanna Swan, an epidemiologist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, authored a ground-breaking 2017 study that revealed that global sperm counts have dropped by more than half over the past four decades. She warned that 'everywhere chemicals', such as phthalates found in toiletries, food packaging and children's toys, are to blame. The chemicals cause hormonal imbalance which can trigger 'reproductive havoc', she said. Factors including smoking tobacco and marijuana and rising obesity rates may also play a role, Dr Swan said. Studies have also pointed to air pollution for dropping fertility rates, suggesting it triggers inflammation which can damage egg and sperm production. 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Experts say the data is discouraging the climate conscious from having babies, while others are opting-out of children due to fears around the world they will grow up in. Dr Britt Wray, a human and planetary health fellow at Stanford University, said the drop-off in fertility rates was due to a 'fear of a degraded future due to climate change'. She was one of the authors behind a Lancet study of 10,000 volunteers, which revealed four in ten young people fear bringing children into the world because of climate concerns.

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