The recent verdicts in the Elizabeth Holmes case, in which she was convicted on four fraud-related charges stemming from her blood-testing company, highlight the importance of peer review and data transparency, according to scientists interviewed for a recent publication in Nature.
Holmes was the founder of Theranos, a company with a goal of creating technology that could run blood tests using only a few drops of blood. She initially made a big splash in technology circles, attracting big names as investors and board members. Things started to go sideways for the company in 2015, most notably after a Wall Street Journal reporter, John Carreyrou, wrote about problems with the machines.
The case is a reminder for “executives at start-up firms to share their data early on, and to participate in some kind of peer-review process,” according to the Nature article. One scientist quoted in the article said part of Holmes’ problems stemmed from her holding the company’s technology as proprietary, not publishing it, and not wanting to share it with the community.