The reproducibility of biomedical research: Sleepers awake!

Stephen A Bustin

doi:10.1016/j.bdq.2015.01.002

The reproducibility of biomedical research: Sleepers awake!

Biomol Detect Quantif. 2015 Jan 21:2:35-42. doi: 10.1016/j.bdq.2015.01.002. eCollection 2014 Dec.

Author

Stephen A Bustin¹

Affiliation

¹ Faculty of Medical Science, Postgraduate Medical Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford CM1 1SQ, UK.

Abstract

There is increasing concern about the reliability of biomedical research, with recent articles suggesting that up to 85% of research funding is wasted. This article argues that an important reason for this is the inappropriate use of molecular techniques, particularly in the field of RNA biomarkers, coupled with a tendency to exaggerate the importance of research findings.

Keywords: Biomedicine; Cancer; Microarrays; Next generation sequencing; Reproducibility; qPCR.

Publication types

Review