Raphaël Lévy

Université Sorbonne Paris Nord

Questioning the reproducibility

of scientific publications

Hundreds of articles report the use of nanoparticles as efficient intracellular sensors of various cytosolic target (ions, mRNAs, etc). Yet, nanoparticles enter cells by endocytosis, a process that results in their confinement within intracellular vesicles, the endosomes, where they do not have access to the targets they are supposed to detect.

As an attempt to solve that paradox, we have initiated a replication initiative that focuses on the most cited articles reporting intracellular sensing with nanoparticle probes. The presentation will introduce the NanoBubbles replication initiative [1], the open science approach that was followed, the results and conclusions of the first replication [2] and present an open call [3] for contributions to this replication effort.

The presentation will conclude with a general discussion on the (lack of?) reliability of the scientific literature and of the various approaches that could be used to improve it.

[1] Said, M., Gharib, M., & Lévy, R. (2026) Towards More Robust Nanobioscience: Launching the NanoBubbles Replication Initiative, Angew. Chemie Intern Edition; DOI: 10.1002/anie.202511631

[2] Gharib, M., Said, M., Pons, T., Hondow, N., Zrig, S., & Lévy, R. (2025). Failed, Aborted Replication of “Carbon-Dot-Based Dual-Emission Nanohybrid Produces a Ratiometric Fluorescent Sensor for In Vivo Imaging of Cellular Copper Ions”. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/2x3hv_v2

[3] https://nanobubbles.hypotheses.org/replication-initiative/call-for-participation-replication-in-bionanoscience