Japan Scientist Quits As Cell Research Discredited

Haruko Obokata

The Japanese researcher whose claim of a major breakthrough in stem cell research was discredited has resigned after the government lab where she worked failed to replicate her results.

AP reports Haruko Obokata said in a statement Friday that she was leaving the Riken Center for Developmental Biology after the lab concluded the stem cells she said she had created probably never existed. The center announced Thursday that it would stop trying to match Obokata's results after months of trying.

Obokata initially was lauded for leading the research that raised hopes for a discovery of a simple way to grow replacement tissue. But questions about the validity of the research prompted Riken scientists, including Obokata, to retract two scientific papers.

Reuters reports the scandal involving the research, which detailed simple ways to reprogram mature cells back to an embryonic-like state, eventually led to the retraction of papers published in the influential journal Nature and tarnished the reputation of Japanese scientific research.

The so-called STAP cells had seemed to offer hope for replacing damaged cells or even growing new human organs for sick or injured people, and made research leader Haruko Obokata a national sensation after the news broke in January.

But the discovery began to unravel soon after when other researchers said they could not replicate the results. Investigations by Riken, the Japanese research institute where Obokata was based, found she had plagiarised and fabricated parts of the papers, which were withdrawn in July.

"We were unable to recreate the STAP phenomenon,"said Shinichi Aizawa, head of Riken's verification team.

"We had planned to continue replication efforts until March next year, but in the light of these results, we have decided to terminate the experiments."

But when asked if this decision meant that the STAP cells did not exist, Aizawa said that as a scientist, he could not give an answer.

"All I can say is that we couldn't replicate the original results," he added.

Obokata, who had staunchly defended her discovery including at a news conference where she stated that "STAP cells do exist", began work at Riken three months ago to replicate her results. She apologised in a statement on Friday for failing to do so and for causing trouble for Riken.

"I am extremely perplexed that we ended up with these results," she said, adding that she had resigned.

The scandal tarnished the reputation of Riken, a semi-governmental institute that is one of Japan's most prestigious research centres. Obokata's supervisor hanged himself in August after months of stress and exhaustion.

Earlier Report: Stem cell researcher Dr Haruko Obokata on 'breakthrough' (Jan 30, 2014 – BBC)

A young researcher in Japan has been facing the world's media after her stem cell studies were heralded as a "major scientific discovery."

Dr Haruko Obokata's work, published in the journal Nature, showed stem cells can now be made quickly just by dipping blood cells into acid.

The breakthrough at the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology was achieved in mouse blood cells, but could have the potential to start a new age of personalized medicine.