EXPRESSION OF CONCERN: Miniphocibacter massiliensis gen. nov., sp. nov., A New Species Isolated from the Human Gut and Its Taxono‐Genomics Description

TL;DR

A new gut bacteria species was described, but concerns about ethical compliance and conflicts of interest have been raised.

Contribution

The paper introduces Miniphocibacter massiliensis, a newly identified gut species with taxonomic-genomic analysis.

Findings

Miniphocibacter massiliensis was isolated from the human gut and described taxonomically and genomically.

Ethical and legal concerns were raised regarding the study's adherence to French regulations and informed consent.

A potential conflict of interest involving co-author Didier Raoult was flagged by a third party.

Abstract

EXPRESSION OF CONCERN: M. Bilen, M.D.M. Fonkou, T.T. Nguyen, M. Richez, Z. Daoud, P‐E. Fournier, D. Raoult, and F. Cadoret, “Miniphocibacter massiliensis gen. nov., sp. nov., A New Species Isolated from the Human Gut and Its Taxono‐Genomics Description,” Microbiology Open 8, no. 5 (2019): e00735, https://doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.735.

This Expression of Concern is for the above article, published online on 2 October 2018 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), and has been issued by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The Expression of Concern has been agreed due to questions raised about the study's adherence to French legal and ethical requirements for research involving human subjects, including questions regarding proper informed consent for research involving vulnerable populations. A concern has also been raised by a third party about a potential conflict of interest for co‐author for Didier Raoult. The investigation into these concerns is ongoing. Therefore, the journal has decided to issue an Expression of Concern to inform and alert readers.