Thousands of dubious antibody validation images spark industry-wide scrutiny
Science sleuth Reese Richardson has flagged more than 18,000 questionable validation images across 15 antibody vendors, expanding May’s Thermo Fisher findings. Automated image–manipulation checks and manual review reveal repeated backgrounds and other edits on validation images, suggesting many catalog entries may not reflect tested performance. Four companies account for most flags; Thermo Fisher and LSBio have issued statements, while others did not comment. While not proving defects, the results raise serious questions about the reliability of commercial antibodies and highlight ongoing reproducibility and cost concerns in biomedical research.