The price of a gold standard

While a new protocol for validating antibodies from the Structural Genomics Consortium goes part way toward addressing one of the biggest sources of irreproducibility in academic research, stakeholders agree a widespread solution will likely require a matrix of methods rather than a single technique. But what they don't agree on is who should foot the bill.

The debate involves antibodies used as research reagents, and extends to four principal issues: Who should set the standards? Who should enforce them? Who should do the work of validating antibodies? And who should pay for it? ...