Figure 6. Summary of (RT-)PCR primer pairings that involved at least one wrongly identified primer.

For n = 851 primer pairs that were claimed to target particular genes/sequences (gene X) (left panel), one or both primers were predicted to be incorrect (right panel), either by targeting unrelated genes or sequences (gene Y or gene Z), or by having no predicted human target (no target). Numbers of primer pairs and affected articles are indicated below each incorrect primer pair category. Some problematic articles described more than one (category of) incorrect primer pairing. Left- or right-hand primers are not intended to indicate forward or reverse primer orientations.