An article published in the journal Nature in 2006 has been retracted after a six-year investigation by the University of Alabama concluded that the authors had deliberately fabricated data in their study about protein structures. In a press release, the university reported that it had also identified nine other papers related to that study that will probably need to be canceled by the scientific journals that published them. In addition to the request for retraction, the institution also named as responsible M. Krishna Murthy, principal author of the article who, at the time it was published, still worked at the University of Alabama. The retracted article described the crystalline structure of a protein called C3b, which plays an important role in the immune system. The results attracted attention because they contradicted other papers published earlier on the subject. The Research Integrity Office of the University of Alabama, working with the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) in the United States, began its investigation in 2007. According to the blog Retraction Watch, the article had been cited more than 40 times.
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