סמינר מחקר 11 בנובמבר: Ute Deichman - Template Theories, the Rule of Parsimony, and Disregard for Irreproducibility in Macromolecular Chemistry: The Example of Linus Pauling's Work on Antibody Formation

Ute Deichman

Template Theories, the Rule of Parsimony, and Disregard for Irreproducibility in Macromolecular Chemistry: The Example of Linus Pauling's Work on Antibody Formation

In 1940, the renowned chemist Linus Pauling proposed his template theory of antibody formation, one of the many ‘instructive’ theories of antibody formation during the first half of the 20th century that rejected Paul Ehrlich’s selective theory, assuming instead a direct moulding of antibody shapes on that of the antigen. Two years later, Pauling claimed to have succeeded in producing specific artificial antibodies through experiments that were based on his 1940 theory. However, his experiments could not be reproduced by prominent immunochemists, and several years later his theory was proved wrong. Pauling never retracted his experimental papers. The example of Pauling is used to demonstrate the impact that philosophical concepts, psychologically motivated theory preferences, and scientific belief have had on the work of outstanding scientists. The paper concludes that bias in favor of suggestive fashionable theories, sloppy interpretations, and disregard for scientific truth are major reasons for the problem of irreproducibility in protein chemistry.