Uploaded May 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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🔬Twitter: twitter.com/CSteinek
In 2006, a revolution emerged that held the promise to change cancer research. Being considered as a major breakthrough, this discovery promised to deliver the most effective drugs for every cancer patient. The scientists behind this incredible discovery though.. deceived everyone.
Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases in the world. Although there has been significant progress in the development of cancer treatments, there is no definite cure for all cancers. The reason for this is that cancer is a highly divers disease and, thus, every cancer patient could need different drugs. Personalized medicin (or precision medicine) is a field of research where the treatment is customed towards the individual patients. Anil Potti was a researcher at Duke university who developed a tool to predict the most effective treatment based on the activity of genes. Joseph Nevins, Anil Potti's mentor and Potti published what seemed like groundbreaking research. However, two data scientists called Kevin Coombes and Keith Baggerly found inconsistencies in Potti's predictions. Over time, other scientists spoke out against these predictions until it was revealed that the used data was altered and manipulated. This is the story of a man who deceived the world and brave scientists who uncovered the truth.
References:
Coverage by 60 Minutes: cbsnews.com/news/deception-at-duke-fraud-in-cancer-care
Perez story: cancerletter.com/free/20150109_1
science.org/content/article/potti-found-guilty-research-misconduct
issuu.com/thecancerletter/docs/duke_scandal_timeline_73c0d0f1934f29
washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/11/09/scientist-falsified-data-for-cancer-research-once-described-as-holy-grail-feds-say
nature.com/articles/nj7396-137a
jstor.org/stable/27801549
science.org/content/blog-post/duke-potti-scandal-inside
cancerletter.com/free/20150123_3
Images:
Some pictures were derived from Servier Medical Art by Servier. You can find over 3000 free medical images here: smart.servier.com
Videos were derived from videvo.net, mixkit.co and videezy.com
Blinking stockfootage, Female Doctor Writing , Email Notification , Female Doctor, Gmail Inbox Button, Antibody, Stethoscope , Scrolling Text, CC-BY 3.0, by videvo.net
Infected Cells by Beachfront CC-BY 3.0, videvo.net
Music:
All of the music is derived from the YouTube Audio library.
0:00-00:58 Intro
00:58-5:41 Revolutionizing Cancer Therapies
5:41-10:03 Inconsistencies and Weird Data
10:03-10:56 Brilliant Sponsorship!
10:56-13:17 How Everyone Found Out
13:17-15:51 The Aftermath
About Clemens Steinek:
CLEMENS STEINEK is a PhD student/youtuber (Sciencerely) who is currently conducting stem cell research in Germany.
This video was sponsored by Brilliant
To try everything Brilliant has to offer—free—for a full 30 days, visit brilliant.org/Sciencerely . The first 200 of you will get 20% off Brilliant’s annual premium subscription.
🔬 Subscribe for more awesome biomedical research: bit.ly/2SRMqhC
📸 IG: instagram.com/clemens.steinek
🔬Twitter: twitter.com/CSteinek
In 2006, a revolution emerged that held the promise to change cancer research. Being considered as a major breakthrough, this discovery promised to deliver the most effective drugs for every cancer patient. The scientists behind this incredible discovery though.. deceived everyone.
Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases in the world. Although there has been significant progress in the development of cancer treatments, there is no definite cure for all cancers. The reason for this is that cancer is a highly divers disease and, thus, every cancer patient could need different drugs. Personalized medicin (or precision medicine) is a field of research where the treatment is customed towards the individual patients. Anil Potti was a researcher at Duke university who developed a tool to predict the most effective treatment based on the activity of genes. Joseph Nevins, Anil Potti's mentor and Potti published what seemed like groundbreaking research. However, two data scientists called Kevin Coombes and Keith Baggerly found inconsistencies in Potti's predictions. Over time, other scientists spoke out against these predictions until it was revealed that the used data was altered and manipulated. This is the story of a man who deceived the world and brave scientists who uncovered the truth.
References:
Coverage by 60 Minutes: cbsnews.com/news/deception-at-duke-fraud-in-cancer-care
Perez story: cancerletter.com/free/20150109_1
science.org/content/article/potti-found-guilty-research-misconduct
issuu.com/thecancerletter/docs/duke_scandal_timeline_73c0d0f1934f29
washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/11/09/scientist-falsified-data-for-cancer-research-once-described-as-holy-grail-feds-say
nature.com/articles/nj7396-137a
jstor.org/stable/27801549
science.org/content/blog-post/duke-potti-scandal-inside
cancerletter.com/free/20150123_3
Images:
Some pictures were derived from Servier Medical Art by Servier. You can find over 3000 free medical images here: smart.servier.com
Videos were derived from videvo.net, mixkit.co and videezy.com
Blinking stockfootage, Female Doctor Writing , Email Notification , Female Doctor, Gmail Inbox Button, Antibody, Stethoscope , Scrolling Text, CC-BY 3.0, by videvo.net
Infected Cells by Beachfront CC-BY 3.0, videvo.net
Music:
All of the music is derived from the YouTube Audio library.
0:00-00:58 Intro
00:58-5:41 Revolutionizing Cancer Therapies
5:41-10:03 Inconsistencies and Weird Data
10:03-10:56 Brilliant Sponsorship!
10:56-13:17 How Everyone Found Out
13:17-15:51 The Aftermath
About Clemens Steinek:
CLEMENS STEINEK is a PhD student/youtuber (Sciencerely) who is currently conducting stem cell research in Germany.
This video was sponsored by Brilliant










