Someone reported Rao Yi’s academic fraud, which even led to the ＂shocking melon＂ in the academic circle

There is an unwritten "consensus" in academic circles: when Rao Yi comes out, it is a big event.

However, it happened that some people did not believe in evil and reported Rao Yi to the relevant departments. The "charge" was still the taboo of scientists: academic fraud.

Along with Rao Yi, there are also academicians Cao Xuetao of Nankai University, Pei Gang of China Academy of Sciences, Geng Meiyu of Shanghai Institute of Pharmacy of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Li Hongliang of Wuhan University … These two are well-known in the field.

It can be seen that if this report is not true, it must be "intentional".

Soon, the Ministry of Science and Technology issued a Circular on the Investigation and Handling of Papers Suspected of Falsification. The results of the Circular show that several people on the list have "misused pictures" to varying degrees, and only Pei Gang and Rao Yi are clean.

But the result, but the Rao Yi completely angered.

It took only two hours, and he wrote an open letter in reply, which was clear throughout-Pei Gang, please check yourself!

Rao Yi

Two open letters locked Pei Gang.

Rao Yi and Pei Gang’s "enemies" were forged two years ago.

At the end of 2019, a "draft letter" signed by Rao Yi was leaked. At the end of the article, three "counterfeiters" were listed by name. One of them is Pei Gang.

At that time, Rao Yi thought that a paper published by Pei Gang in 1999 contained three wrong pictures. The so-called G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) in the paper only needed five transmembrane proteins, which was also a gimmick. If it weren’t for academic fraud, it would be impossible to finish the experiment, let alone write a serious paper.

As soon as this article came out, it almost caused a sensation in the whole "academic circle" in China. In the following two years, the main contradictions between Rao Yi and Pei Gang were almost all around this "draft" and Pei Gang’s paper.

On December 4, 2020, Rao Yi and Pei Gang were still in court for this matter.

In court, Rao Yi’s attitude was clear: If you have sufficient evidence to prove that you are not faking, you can. But under the premise of insufficient evidence, don’t let me question it. It is absolutely impossible to cover up the truth ambiguously.

Judging from the public information, Pei Gang said at that time that his lab had another article to prove his conclusion. But obviously, this answer, Rao Yi didn’t buy it. Pei Gang did not intend to "retreat once and then" on this issue, and the two sides ended in discord.

This is what happened after the Ministry of Science and Technology notified "the investigation and handling of suspected fraud in relevant papers".

Pei Gang

In fact, as long as we know a little about the cause and effect of the whole thing, we can roughly understand why Rao Yi also appeared in the list of "reported".

But after some investigation, I picked it up high and put it down gently. Rao Yi couldn’t rub the sand in his eyes.

In an open letter on January 21st, Rao Yi named and reported Pei Gang’s academic misconduct, and at the beginning of the open letter, he said: Director Pei Gang.

In addition to being a researcher at the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology of China Academy of Sciences, Pei Gang is indeed the director of the Sixth Moral Construction Committee of China Academy of Sciences, focusing on the construction of scientific ethics and style of study in the department.

This move can be described as extremely lethal and ironic.

But strangely, Rao Yi’s move didn’t blow up the main Pei Gang, instead, three students from Pei Gang Lab beat him to it.

Some netizens made a simple summary of their "vocalization": First, you Rao Yi can’t repeat the experimental results of our year, which is your level; Second, you don’t do business, open letters, play from the media, and have a good rhythm. We are ashamed of ourselves.

Scientists can’t write open letters?

The experimental details involved in the debate between Rao Yi and Pei Gang are inconclusive for the time being, and it is difficult to evaluate the level of both sides. However, compared with some scientific workers, Rao Yi really loves to write open letters. It’s just that his original intention of writing letters is rarely for himself.

While working in the United States that year, Rao Yi noticed that it was difficult for Asian scientists to gain a leading position in the academic circles in the United States. Working in this academic environment for a long time is false to say that it is not depressing.

Rao Yi began to write to the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), reminding them that in the history of the Society for more than 100 years, there were few Asian leaders;

He wrote a letter to the American Neurological Society, pointing out that there is not a scholar from Chinese mainland in the hundreds of various leadership positions of the Society;

He also wrote to the editor-in-chief of CELL at that time, suggesting that the proportion of Asian scientists should be increased.

With the efforts of Rao Yi, Professor Wang Xiaofan later became the deputy editor-in-chief of the academic journal JBC; Lu Bai was successfully elected to the cadre selection Committee of the American Neurological Society; Luo Liqun was elected as a member of the procedural Committee of the annual meeting of the American Neurological Association.

At the beginning of this year, Rao Yi wrote to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Chen Gang worked, about the accusation and arrest of Chinese-American Professor Chen Gang by the United States, hoping that MIT, as a beacon of academic excellence and academic freedom, could hold its head high and show its backbone in front of the Boston FBI and its agents to protect Chen Gang.

MIT did, too.

They responded positively and explained the FBI’s accusation against Chen Gang, and also called on all China and Chinese alumni of MIT to care for and respect each other. According to the latest news, at present, Chen Gang has been released on bail.

Rao Yi’s way of doing things by "writing a letter and remonstrating directly" certainly offended a group of people. We can see the clue from the "Pei Gang Incident" which continues to ferment.

But anyone who knows Rao Yi knows that he is that kind of person.

Shi Yigong, an old friend, once commented on him like this: Rao Yi, a scientist who cares about the country and the people, an open and honest man, a modern Lu Xun who is sharp in honest and frank, and a semi-old urchin who goes his own way. Whether you like him or not, Rao Yi is enlightening China society in his own way and is destined to leave an important influence.

But beyond Rao Yi, what we prefer to see is that more and more people take the initiative to "get ahead" in order to establish a better academic atmosphere. Because the optimization of any kind of system and environment is not the responsibility of one person.

Read the original text