Investigators at Japanese laboratory say lead author manipulated presentation of results to improve their appearance

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

A Japanese scientist partly falsified a research paper that announced a breakthrough in the production of stem cells, the government-funded laboratory involved has announced.

The results from the Riken Centre for Development Biology in Kobe, western Japan, were seen as a possible groundbreaking method, offering hope of growing "Stap cell" tissue to treat illnesses such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease using a simple lab procedure.

Researchers in Boston and Japan conducted the experiments in using a simple procedure to turn ordinary cells from mice into stem cells by exposing cells from spleens of newborn mice to a more acidic environment than they are used to. The researchers said cells from other tissues of newborn mice appeared to go through the same change, which could be triggered by exposing cells to any of a variety of stressful situations.

Scientists at the institute said on Tuesday that significant discrepancies in research published in January in the scientific journal Nature had stemmed from falsified data. They said researcher Haruko Obokata, the lead author of the paper in Nature, had manipulated or falsified images of DNA fragments used in the research.

"The manipulation was used to improve the appearance of the results," said Shunsuke Ishii, the head of the committee set up to investigate allegations that the research was fraudulent.

The institute said three other co-authors of the papers had not falsified the data but were still "gravely responsible" for failing to fully verify the research findings. The discrepancies in the data showed up as anomalous lines in an image of DNA fragments.

Scientists hope to harness stem cells to replace defective tissue in a wide variety of diseases. Making stem cells from a patient would eliminate the risk of transplant rejection.

The Japanese panel would not comment on whether Stap cells actually exist. "That was not my mission," Ishii said. Stap is short for stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency.

Associated Press contributed to this report.