(16 Feb 2024) The images, created with Midjourney, feature misspelled labels like ‘dck’ and ‘testtomcels.’ In its apology, the journal, Frontiers, gives a weak explanation for what happened.
The paper, titled “Cellular functions of spermatogonial stem cells in relation to JAK/STAT signaling pathway,” was published on Feb. 13, 2024, and promptly made the rounds on social media for its outlandish images of a rat’s penis.
The authors of the study—Xinyu Guo, Liang Dong, and Dingjun Hao—reportedly used Midjourney to create the images. It’s unclear what prompt the authors put into Midjourney. Perhaps “cross section of rat penis”? At any rate, it resulted in an oversized phallus they apparently did not find objectionable.
Read more here.
