Haruko Obokata, a researcher at the Riken Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, became an overnight sensation when her research team reported to have found a revolutionary way to turn into stem cells, a process that could be useful in a range of medical treatments including tissue repair.
The study, which described a new procedure called stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency or STAP that could reprogram mature adult cells so they become embryonic stem cells was published in two papers in the journal Nature in January.
The research, however, faced scrutiny and doubts when other scientists had difficulty replicating the results. Labs that attempted to create the STAP cells, for instance, failed. "Only the initial stages (in the engineering of STAP cells) have so far been replicated," said Maki Kawai, a Riken executive director.
Images from the study likewise appeared to have been spliced together or have already been used in Obokata's different experiment. The study also appeared to have copied some text from a paper published in 2005.
Riken Institute, which sponsored the study, launched an investigation last month to look into the credibility of the data used and presented in the study and on March 14 admitted flaws in the scientific report.
"It is extremely regrettable that significant discrepancies have been found to have been generated in the process of preparing the Nature articles for publication," said RIKEN president Ryoji Noyori in a statement. "We are investigating these discrepancies, with the understanding that it may become necessary to demand the withdrawal of the articles."
The institute was inevitably embarrassed by the scandal. In a news conference Friday, Noyori made an apology for the issues embroiling what could have been a revolutionary research. "We apologize for the suspicions raised about the articles," Noyori said. "Such an act of extreme sloppiness should never have taken place."
Three scientists involved in the study including Haruko Obokata have already agreed to retract the paper. "We extend our heartfelt apology for the confusion," Obokata and two of her co-authors said. "We will be explaining ourselves on a separate occasion at the appropriate time."
The investigation though is not yet over and RIKEN itself said it may take some time before it can issue a final report on its investigation.
"The investigation is still in progress and there remain allegations and concerns that must be thoroughly investigated," the company said in a statement. "RIKEN takes this matter very seriously and considers it essential that the facts be ascertained. As soon as the committee has reached its conclusions, a final report will be promptly issued."
