WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A controversial paper that linked chronic fatigue syndrome to a virus has been withdrawn by the journal Science, its editors say.
"Multiple laboratories, including those of the original authors, have failed to reliably detect xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) or other murine leukemia virus (MLV)-related viruses in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients," the retraction notice in Science said. "In addition, there is evidence of poor quality control in a number of specific experiments in the Report."
The 2009 paper had attracted an editorial expression of concern by Science, which noted in May that replicating the findings was proving difficult. The paper was partially retracted in September after contamination of some samples used in the study was detected.
Science has taken the unusual step of fully retracting the paper without the complete agreement of the authors, Nature.com reported Thursday.
"We note that the majority of the authors have agreed in principle to retract the Report but they have been unable to agree on the wording of their statement," the retraction notice said. "It is Science's opinion that a retraction signed by all the authors is unlikely to be forthcoming. We are therefore editorially retracting the Report."
Jonathan Stoye, a retrovirologist at the National Institute for Medical Research in London, says the retraction came as "no surprise."
"Mistakes will happen and science does tend to be self-correcting," he said. "It has done that, and actually it's done that remarkably efficiently [in this case]."
