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On Campus

A cautionary tail.

Immunologist Chen Dong has a message for his fellow researchers: When in doubt, check with your Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). The University of Washington (UW), Seattle, has barred Dong from conducting animal research for at least a year after the committee documented an array of violations, including cutting the tips off mouse tails (for tissue analyses) without proper anesthesia. Dong, 36, who came to UW 3 years ago, has also had to retract a recent high-profile paper from the Journal of Clinical Investigation because the IACUC hadn't fully approved the study.

A contrite Dong says his inexperience led to the potentially career-ending missteps, and that he plans to repeat and resubmit the retracted results. And he's relieved that his studies will be able to continue under the watchful eye of colleague Andrew Farr, who has been given temporary oversight of animal work in Chen's 12-person lab. "I regret that I didn't understand how things worked," he says. "And I strongly recommend that everyone work closely with [the] IACUC."

Science 302:1657, 5 December 2003
CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON



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