(3 Sep 2026) After identifying antibody validation data manipulation in Thermo Fisher Scientific’s catalogue in May, the science sleuths and researchers behind the finding have now uncovered doctored validation data on a much larger scale, with over 18,000 images relating to over 17,000 antibodies from at least 15 different supplier companies.
Reese Richardson, Elisabeth Bik and Sholto David – who spotted the first doctored blot – have led the investigation. Community reports have also come in from across the world, with the annotated images continuing to be collated in an online repository. The team has traced some suspected image manipulation back over a decade ago.
The companies identified span major suppliers as well as more specialist firms, including MilliporeSigma, G-Biosciences, Proteogenix, Abcam and Origene. Western blots – which show how an antibody binds to a given protein – and other validation images have been identified as manipulated, calling into question not just transparency but antibody performance. This includes ‘painting’ of immunofluorescence images used to visualise the distribution or localisation in cells.
The companies with the largest number of doctored images are G-Biosciences and Thermo, each with more than 5000 images identified, and LSBio and Origene with more than 2000 images each. However, without running a complete audit of all the companies’ catalogues, the full extent of the problem remains unclear. Thermo and Abcam have begun their own internal reviews. Thermo says it has so far found ‘no evidence of impact to antibody performance’ and is updating and replacing some Western blot images, as well as adding labelling to distinguish raw, unedited images from those that may have been ‘edited, optimised or adjusted’.
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