Opinion: Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s resignation shows what happens when you don’t pay attention to lab culture
Lab culture matters.
Last week, Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced that he will resign as president of Stanford over work performed many years ago, in labs at three different institutions. While most of the attention has been focused on the fall from grace of this distinguished scientist, this sad situation carries broader lessons about avoidable outcomes.
A delicately worded sentence in the investigative panel’s report notes that there “may have been” opportunities to “improve laboratory oversight and management” in the Tessier-Lavigne lab. This understated conclusion rests on three elements identified by the panel: multiple people in the lab manipulated data over time, there were “oversights” in correcting the scientific record once discrepancies were called to Tessier-Levigne’s attention, and the lab culture was wanting in key ways.
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