user14587: My question here is what to do in the case that a question from the past was answered in line with what we knew at the time, but then new research improves on, or invalidates the previous answer. It might be helpful if there is some mechanism of dealing with this, like marking a previous answer as incorrect now, and refer to a correct answer.
Currently, it seems like the best answer is to just post the new work as an alternative answer. And maybe this is a bit dangerous with a field like Biology that is constantly evolving.

user5144: I think there is only one way to deal with it: Write a new answer which cites the most recent research and also give an explanation why there is a new (and probably competing) answer.
This happens in science every now and then and people need to be able to get used to the new fact.

user3059: I think other communities must deal with this as well - even on Stack Overflow, I've noticed additional answers years later that specify that the accepted answer may have been the best solution at the time, but a new version of the language has since been released, etc.
I think one solution would be to not only post a new answer with the updated information, but also to edit the accepted answer such that the first line reads: "At the time of posting, this was the commonly accepted answer to this question. However, recent research indicates this may not be true. See this [link to answer] for details." This will preserve the original answer and also the asker's intent in accepting that answer, but also direct new readers to the correct information.
However, I could see a case where this could get out of hand, so maybe it might be better to relegate the notice to even a comment on the accepted answer, or just leave the new answer up and hope that people will read more than just the accepted answer on a given page.

14587: <p>My question here is what to do in the case that a question from the past was answered in line with what we knew at the time, but then new research improves on, or invalidates the previous answer. It might be helpful if there is some mechanism of dealing with this, like marking a previous answer as incorrect now, and refer to a correct answer.</p>

<p>Currently, it seems like the best answer is to just post the new work as an alternative answer. And maybe this is a bit dangerous with a field like Biology that is constantly evolving.</p>
 5144: <p>I think there is only one way to deal with it: Write a new answer which cites the most recent research and also give an explanation why there is a new (and probably competing) answer.</p>

<p>This happens in science every now and then and people need to be able to get used to the new fact.</p>
 3059: <p>I think other communities must deal with this as well - even on Stack Overflow, I've noticed additional answers years later that specify that the accepted answer may have been the best solution at the time, but a new version of the language has since been released, etc.</p>

<p>I think one solution would be to not only post a new answer with the updated information, but also to <em>edit</em> the accepted answer such that the first line reads: "At the time of posting, this was the commonly accepted answer to this question. However, recent research indicates this may not be true. See this [link to answer] for details." This will preserve the original answer and also the asker's intent in accepting that answer, but also direct new readers to the correct information.</p>

<p>However, I could see a case where this could get out of hand, so maybe it might be better to relegate the notice to even a comment on the accepted answer, or just leave the new answer up and hope that people will read more than just the accepted answer on a given page.</p>
