Stagnation and herd mentality in the biomedical sciences

Academic biomedical science is like music, painting, or other fashionable arts and politics. Concepts that are perceived to be ‘in’ can become widely accepted and then stagnate, remaining unchallenged for many years, independent of their scientific validity. Fads in biomedical science have been observed to last for years or decades. The reasons for herd mentality and stagnation are manifold, but their recognition allows opportunities for constructive awareness and perhaps effective countermeasures.

[1]  Scott E Kern,et al.  History and principles of conductive media for standard DNA electrophoresis. , 2004, Analytical biochemistry.

[2]  E. Calhoun,et al.  Ultra-fast high-resolution agarose electrophoresis of DNA and RNA using low-molarity conductive media. , 2004, BioTechniques.

[3]  A. Mccook.  Open-access journals rank well , 2004, Genome Biology.

[4]  A. Rademaker,et al.  TGFBR1*6A and cancer: a meta-analysis of 12 case-control studies. , 2004, Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

[5]  S. Kern,et al.  Sodium boric acid: a Tris-free, cooler conductive medium for DNA electrophoresis. , 2004, BioTechniques.

[6]  M. Hollstein,et al.  Analysis of human prostate cancers and cell lines for mutations in the TP53 and KLF6 tumour suppressor genes , 2003, British Journal of Cancer.

[7]  Scott E Kern,et al.  Fellowship Goals for Ph.D.'s and M.D.'s: A Primer on the Molecular Biology Postdoctoral Experience , 2002, Cancer biology & therapy.

[8]  S. Friedman,et al.  KLF6, a Candidate Tumor Suppressor Gene Mutated in Prostate Cancer , 2001, Science.

[9]  J. Sambrook,et al.  Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual , 2001 .

[10]  J. Fraser,et al.  An Interview with Sherman Alexie , 2000 .

[11]  Juan Miguel Campanario,et al.  Fraud: retracted articles are still being cited , 2000, Nature.

[12]  F. Vella,et al.  IUBMB updates Ph.D. standards. , 2000, BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology.

[13]  Hervé Maisonneuve,et al.  Peer Review in Health Sciences , 2000, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[14]  John L. Hubisz.  The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman, by Carl Feynman and Michelle Feynman , 2000 .

[15]  T. Jefferson,et al.  Peer Review in Health Sciences , 1999 .

[16]  D. Botstein,et al.  Proposed Changes for NIH's Center for Scientific Review , 1999, Science.

[17]  D. Housman,et al.  No evidence for linkage between schizophrenia and markers at chromosome 15q13-14. , 1999, American journal of medical genetics.

[18]  Sir James W. Black.  I Wish I'd Made You Angry Earlier , 1998, Nature Medicine.

[19]  W. Honer,et al.  Absence of linkage for schizophrenia on the short arm of chromosome 5 in multiplex Canadian families. , 1997, American journal of medical genetics.

[20]  Juan Miguel Campanario,et al.  Have Referees Rejected Some of the Most-Cited Articles of All Times? , 1996, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[21]  M. Bittner,et al.  Identification by representational difference analysis of a homozygous deletion in pancreatic carcinoma that lies within the BRCA2 region. , 1995, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[22]  J. Campanario.  Not in our Nature , 1993, Nature.

[23]  B. Vogelstein,et al.  Participation of p53 protein in the cellular response to DNA damage. , 1991, Cancer research.

[24]  J. Ward,et al.  Comparative immunohistochemical reactivity of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies to H-ras p21 in normal and neoplastic tissues of rodents and humans. , 1989, Oncogene.

[25]  A. Thor,et al.  Monoclonal antibody RAP-5 and ras p21 expression. , 1988, Human pathology.

[26]  I. Weinstein,et al.  The origins of human cancer: molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis and their implications for cancer prevention and treatment--twenty-seventh G.H.A. Clowes memorial award lecture. , 1988, Cancer research.

[27]  W. Samowitz,et al.  Reported binding of monoclonal antibody RAP-5 to formalin-fixed tissue sections is not indicative of ras p21 expression. , 1988, Human pathology.

[28]  D. Spandidos,et al.  Evaluation of a monoclonal antibody to ras peptide, RAP-5, claimed to bind preferentially to cells of infiltrating carcinomas. , 1986, British Journal of Cancer.

[29]  M. Viola,et al.  Expression of ras oncogene p21 in prostate cancer. , 1986, The New England journal of medicine.

[30]  P. Hand,et al.  Monoclonal antibodies of predefined specificity detect activated ras gene expression in human mammary and colon carcinomas. , 1984, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[31]  B. Macmahon,et al.  Coffee and cancer of the pancreas. , 1981, The New England journal of medicine.

[32]  S. Hjertén.  DEDICATION TO PROFESSOR ARNE TISELIUS , 1973, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[33]  D. Baltimore.  Viral RNA-dependent DNA Polymerase: RNA-dependent DNA Polymerase in Virions of RNA Tumour Viruses , 1970, Nature.

[34]  H. Temin.  THE EFFECTS OF ACTINOMYCIN D ON GROWTH OF ROUS SARCOMA VIRUS IN VITRO. , 1963, Virology.

[35]  T. Kuhn,et al.  The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. , 1964 .

[36]  H. Temin.  The control of cellular morphology in embryonic cells infected with rous sarcoma virus in vitro. , 1960, Virology.

[37]  G. DeFriese,et al.  The New York Times , 2020, Publishing for Libraries.

[38]  W. S. Lyon.  Winning the games scientists play , 2005, Scientometrics.

[39]  T. Walsh,et al.  DBC2, a candidate for a tumor suppressor gene involved in breast cancer. , 2002, Nature Reviews Cancer.

[40]  Steven Levy,et al.  Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government--Saving Privacy in the Digital Age , 2001 .

[41]  R. Insall.  Cynicism and credulity. My word. , 1999, Current biology : CB.

[42]  Neil Baldwin,et al.  Edison: Inventing the Century , 1995 .

[43]  R. Goldwyn.  Meeting mania. , 1993, Plastic and reconstructive surgery.

[44]  V. Rotter,et al.  Mutant p53 proteins bind DNA abnormally in vitro. , 1991, Oncogene.

[45]  H. Sambrook.  Molecular cloning : a laboratory manual. Cold Spring Harbor, NY , 1989 .

[46]  S. Mizutani,et al.  RNA-dependent DNA polymerase in virions of Rous sarcoma virus. , 1970, Nature.

[47]  A S Kirkland,et al.  New Brunswick. , 1944, Canadian Medical Association journal.