Have you ever come across something in your work which has really shocked you and set you back, or increased your level

Question: Have you ever come across something in your work which has really shocked you and set you back, or increased your level of findings massively?
- Keywords:
  ahievement,
  discovery,
  failure,
  scientist
Asked by bigchicken2000 to Elaine on 26 Jun 2013.
- Elaine Marshall answered on 26 Jun 2013:
  
  not personally but I have seen it happen to some of my colleagues – I have been very lucky. The problems I have suffered more than once is experiments not working – which was okay I just had to develop another way of looking at the problem and attacking it with a different approach or tool. All character building stuff really.

Question: Have you ever come across something in your work which has really shocked you and set you back, or increased your level of findings massively?