He allowed himself to be unduly influenced by Liron Phalen. He did not have the strength of will to insist, to demand, that the course of their research observe the moral and ethical principles he’s tried to honor throughout his whole adult life. When it mattered, when it might even have saved a pair of lives, he failed. He failed himself by disregarding his own principles. He failed himself, science, all metahumanity. And this is just one more failing on top of a career plagued by shortcomings and outright failures.