Sylvain Lesné

Sylvain E. Lesné (born 1974) is a French neuroscientist and associate professor at the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota (UMN) Medical School, known for his research into Alzheimer's disease. He is the primary author of a controversial 2006 ''Nature'' paper, "A specific amyloid-β protein assembly in the brain impairs memory". Lesné's work in the 2006 publication and others has been investigated since June 2022 on charges that he manipulated images to inflate the role of Aβ*56 in Alzheimer's. Retracted in 2024, the paper was foundational in the hypothesis that one specific toxic oligomer of the amyloid beta protein, known as Aβ*56, caused memory impairment in Alzheimer's, aligned with the prevailing amyloid hypothesis.

Karen Ashe, the senior author of the 2006 ''Nature'' paper – and all authors except Lesné – agreed to retract the paper which, according to Retraction Watch, makes it the second most highly cited paper ever retracted. Responses from other researchers indicated that, while the allegations were significant, the overall impact on amyloid research was small and most Alzheimer's research was not compromised. Other researchers disagreed, and expressed concerns that the doctored images raised doubts about the amyloid hypothesis. Lesné is still a professor at UMN. Provided by Wikipedia