Fraud Charges Cast Doubt on Claims of DNA Damage From Cell Phone Fields

This news was reported in the latest issue of Science (August 29, 2008).

The only two peer-reviewed scientific papers showing that electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from cell phones can cause DNA breakage are at the center of a misconduct controversy at the Medical University of Vienna (MUV). Critics had argued that the data looked too good to be real, and in May a university investigation agreed, concluding that data in both studies had been fabricated and that the papers should be retracted.

The technician who worked on the studies has resigned, and the senior author on both papers initially agreed with the rector of the university to retract them. But since then, the case has become murkier as the senior author has changed his mind, saying that the technician denies wrongdoing. He will now agree to retract only one paper, and he also says his critics have been funded by the cell phone industry, which has an obvious interest in discrediting any evidence of harm from its products.

Er.. no! Whether the result of the study is valid or not, the CREDIBILITY of the study is now gone, especially when a retraction of one paper will occur. I don't think these people get it, or have learned anything from the Schon debacle from a few years ago, or from the cold-fusion embarassment. When you lose your credibility, it really doesn't matter how good of a result you produce. Not many will pay that much attention to you anymore unless someone else comes in and verify what you got. And last time I checked, cold fusion hasn't been touted as the solution to our energy crisis.

I also wonder if the Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute actually based his recommendations for children/teens to limit their cell phone usage on these studies. If he did, that would certainly be a dubious source to use, I would think.

Zz.