paris

An inquiry by the French research ministry into the activities of a laboratory of INSERM, the national biomedical research agency, headed by Bernard Bihain, has taken a new turn. Last week the ministry released a controversial — and previously confidential — report on the laboratory drawn up last year by an independent commission of inquiry (see Nature 391, 519; 1998 & Nature 391, 825; 1998;).

The inquiry, chaired by Pierre Corvol of the Collège de France, received testimony from 24 ‘whistleblowers’ who work or have worked at the INSERM Laboratory of Nutrition, Lipoprotein Metabolism and Atherosclerosis at the University of Rennes. It concludes that the testimonies of seven of these witnesses raise doubts about the “validity of certain results published or in the process of publication by the director of the laboratory”.

A scientific annexe to the report, by John Chapman, a panel member and the director of INSERM's Laboratory of Lipoproteins and Atherogenesis in Paris, claims that Bihain “lacked scientific rigour”, and describes allegations that he had “favoured and selected” certain results “to reinforce a hypothesis apriori”.

Daniel Nahon, director-general of the research ministry, announced last week that four international experts had been asked by the ministry to carry out a new inquiry within three months. He promised that their findings would be made public.