The author of the STAP cells made concessions
Japanese researcher and her co-authors,
whose "sensational" results turned out to be non-reproducible, agreed to the review of the article in Nature
The intention of Haruko Obokata from the Center for Developmental Biology of the RIKEN Institute (RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology) in the Japanese city of Kobe to withdraw a publication claiming that the so-called STAP stem cells can give rise to a variety of tissues became known to the Japanese media, who also note that from the second article describing the actual method of obtaining these stem cells, the researcher does not refuse. (The article in ScienceInsider is titled "Key Researcher Agrees to Withdraw Both Disputed Stem Cell Papers," but the Japanese media knows better – VM.)
At the end of January this year, Obokata and co-authors from the USA and Japan reported on a new method of reprogramming mature, adult cells into the semblance of stem cells by briefly placing them in an acidic environment, and then a sharp change in cultivation conditions. These stressful conditions gave the name to the cells allegedly obtained by Obokata and colleagues, STAP is the English abbreviation for the acquisition of pluripotency under the influence of stimuli (stimulus–triggered acquisition of pluripotency).
The method, which seemed to be a breakthrough, soon turned out to be non-reproducible and accusations of falsification of illustrations and data rained down on the lead author. In April, the RIKEN Investigation Committee issued a conclusion on the improper staging of two stages of the experiment, but did not demand a review of the publication.
However, now Obokata's lawyers have told the Japanese press that the researcher refuses an article asserting the pluripotency of cells that have undergone acid, but not the effectiveness of stressful conditions. But it was in the article describing the production of stem cells as a result of placing the source material in an acidic environment and the subsequent abrupt change of conditions that the committee's experts revealed the forgery of photographs and the use of Obokata's dissertation data unrelated to the described experiments.
As The Japan Times newspaper notes, at least two of Obokata's ten co–authors on the controversial article agreed to withdraw the publication, and one of them is a well-known stem cell specialist Teruhiko Wakayama from the University of Yamanashi, who began to advocate for this at the beginning of the scandalous investigation. Other co-authors, including Haruko's dissertation supervisor Charles Vacanti from Harvard Medical School, continue to defend the described results. The independent expert referred to by ScienceInsider, Paul Knoepfler from the University of California, Davis, believes that both publications should be withdrawn.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru05.06.2014