Overview

• Editor in chief Holden Thorp said Science now retracts papers whose experiments fail to back key conclusions even without evidence of fraud or misconduct.
• The original 2010 study by Felisa Wolfe-Simon and colleagues claimed a Mono Lake bacterium could replace phosphorus with arsenic to build biomolecules.
• Subsequent 2012 studies failed to reproduce arsenic-dependent growth and demonstrated the microbe merely sequesters arsenic rather than using it metabolically.
• Lead authors including Ariel Anbar and Wolfe-Simon oppose the retraction, contending that disagreements over interpretation should not trigger removal.
• NASA’s science mission chief Nicky Fox has asked Science to reconsider its decision, warning that the move could reshape norms for judging published research.