As a professor and a genetics researcher at Duke, I would like to offer my point of view concerning some of the issues raised by the Potti affair. First, I should emphasize that my knowledge concerning this incident is based on various news articles and commentaries in scientific journals rather than inside information. Second, since 2004, I have been in the same department as Joe Nevins, and I have great respect for his contributions as a scientist and as a member of the Duke community.
The implication of the coverage in the media of this unfortunate incident is that the blame for this incident should be shared by Dr. Nevins as well as Dr. Potti. I feel that the responsibility resides almost entirely with Dr. Potti, as he himself has admitted. A collaboration is based on the assumption that your collaborators are honest, and that any errors are honest mistakes. It is impossible to collaborate on any other basis. In a collaboration, there is usually a division of labor based on the expertise of the investigators. Although some might argue that Dr. Nevins should have been less trusting of Dr. Potti and more proactive in a detailed examination of the data, in practice, it is often very difficult for a researcher with one type of expertise to examine flaws in the procedures involving a different type of expertise. More importantly, if one of the researchers is deceitful and tampers with the data, an evaluation of its validity may be extremely difficult or impossible.
Fortunately, incidents like the Potti case are rare because most individuals go into medical research to benefit patients, and any action that may endanger patients is unthinkable. In addition, a knowing manipulation of data is a career-ending violation. Accusations concerning a faculty member who has contributed enormously to the success of genetics at Duke and who has a lengthy career of validated important research contributions are, in my view, completely unjustified.
Sincerely,
Dr. Tom Petes, professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics
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