The Riken Center, a medical research center in Japan, was the site of stem cell experiments which failed to confirm an earlier finding that led to a massive controversy, and the suicide of a scientist.
Stem cells are capable of developing into a wide variety of cell types, including skin, muscle, or bones. Researchers at the center claimed in 2013 that they developed a simple method of producing the cells. The experiment was detailed in a pair of articles, published in the journal Nature. After publication, several researchers started challenging the conclusions of the study.
Yoshiki Sasai, a cellular biologist from the RIKEN center committed suicide over regrets that he had not done enough to check research performed by a colleague.
STAP cells (an acronym for stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency) appeared to develop in initial experiments. The method used involved exposing mature non-stem cells from mice to a weak acid. The team claimed that doing so transformed normal cells into stem cells. This is far simpler than current methods used to create the special bodies. If the process were effective, it could have led to a new generation of treatments for a wide range of ailments. However, this experiment could not be replicated by other researchers.
Soon after the initial report was released, scientists and laypeople alike began to question numerous aspects of the report. Observers pointed out plagiarized text, and images that were either erroneous or mislabeled. On 1 April, a RIKEN committee found the group guilty of misconduct in the research, saying the team fabricated and falsified data in the report. Molecular biologists around the world unsuccessfully attempted to recreate STAP cells using the method suggested by the group.
"An outside committee reviewing the case on 12 June recommended that [the Center for Developmental Biology] be dismantled. The authors retracted the papers on 2 July, though [the original researcher] has continued to claim that the STAP phenomenon is real," Dennis Normille wrote for the journal Science.
Shinichi Aizawa and Hitoshi Niwa, a pair of researchers at the center, led the second investigation, which was unable to match results seen in the earlier study.
The RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) is located in Kobe, Japan. Directors announced operations at the facility will be streamlined, and the center would re-open in November, under a different name.
An investigative committee looking into the scandal recommended on 12 June that the CDB be entirely dismantled. Yoshiki Sasai left five suicide notes, one of which named media attention from the scandal as one of the reasons for his decision.
