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Associated Press
The scientist who led the research on STAP cells (stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency cells) has apologized for the errors in her published work but maintains that she is not guilty of misconduct.
She offered additional explanations for the errors and argued that they do not change the conclusion of the research—that the STAP phenomenon is real.
Earlier this month, Haruko Obokata, PhD, was accused of research misconduct by her institution, the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan.
RIKEN had launched an investigation into the STAP cell research (published in an article and a letter to Nature) after members of the scientific community began questioning its validity.
The researchers had claimed they could induce pluripotency in somatic cells by introducing them to a low-pH environment.
RIKEN investigated 6 issues with the research and ruled that there were 2 cases of data mishandling, 2 unintentional errors, and 2 cases of misconduct in the form of data manipulation.
In the first case of data manipulation, Dr Obokata switched 1 lane of a diagram for another. In the second, she used an image of a teratoma from her doctoral thesis.
Dr Obokata said the first manipulation was for the purpose of image clarity and not made with an intent to deceive readers. And the second “manipulation” was the result of a mix up in Power Point slides.
Dr Obokata also maintained that STAP cells do exist, and she has produced them more than 200 times. She added that she is willing to help scientists trying to replicate her experiments.
Furthermore, the notes that RIKEN reviewed in their investigation—2 notebooks that detail the STAP cell experiments—are not the complete set of notes Dr Obokata made. She said she has at least 4 or 5 other notebooks in different labs.
Dr Obokata has filed an appeal with RIKEN, asking the institute to reconsider its judgment. If RIKEN upholds the allegations of misconduct, Dr Obokata and 2 of her co-authors—Yoshiki Sasai, MD, PhD, and Teruhiko Wakayama, PhD—will face disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, a group of RIKEN investigators is conducting research to determine if STAP cells can be created, but they expect the process to take up to a year. 
Associated Press
The scientist who led the research on STAP cells (stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency cells) has apologized for the errors in her published work but maintains that she is not guilty of misconduct.
She offered additional explanations for the errors and argued that they do not change the conclusion of the research—that the STAP phenomenon is real.
Earlier this month, Haruko Obokata, PhD, was accused of research misconduct by her institution, the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan.
RIKEN had launched an investigation into the STAP cell research (published in an article and a letter to Nature) after members of the scientific community began questioning its validity.
The researchers had claimed they could induce pluripotency in somatic cells by introducing them to a low-pH environment.
RIKEN investigated 6 issues with the research and ruled that there were 2 cases of data mishandling, 2 unintentional errors, and 2 cases of misconduct in the form of data manipulation.
In the first case of data manipulation, Dr Obokata switched 1 lane of a diagram for another. In the second, she used an image of a teratoma from her doctoral thesis.
Dr Obokata said the first manipulation was for the purpose of image clarity and not made with an intent to deceive readers. And the second “manipulation” was the result of a mix up in Power Point slides.
Dr Obokata also maintained that STAP cells do exist, and she has produced them more than 200 times. She added that she is willing to help scientists trying to replicate her experiments.
Furthermore, the notes that RIKEN reviewed in their investigation—2 notebooks that detail the STAP cell experiments—are not the complete set of notes Dr Obokata made. She said she has at least 4 or 5 other notebooks in different labs.
Dr Obokata has filed an appeal with RIKEN, asking the institute to reconsider its judgment. If RIKEN upholds the allegations of misconduct, Dr Obokata and 2 of her co-authors—Yoshiki Sasai, MD, PhD, and Teruhiko Wakayama, PhD—will face disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, a group of RIKEN investigators is conducting research to determine if STAP cells can be created, but they expect the process to take up to a year.
Associated Press
The scientist who led the research on STAP cells (stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency cells) has apologized for the errors in her published work but maintains that she is not guilty of misconduct.
She offered additional explanations for the errors and argued that they do not change the conclusion of the research—that the STAP phenomenon is real.
Earlier this month, Haruko Obokata, PhD, was accused of research misconduct by her institution, the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan.
RIKEN had launched an investigation into the STAP cell research (published in an article and a letter to Nature) after members of the scientific community began questioning its validity.
The researchers had claimed they could induce pluripotency in somatic cells by introducing them to a low-pH environment.
RIKEN investigated 6 issues with the research and ruled that there were 2 cases of data mishandling, 2 unintentional errors, and 2 cases of misconduct in the form of data manipulation.
In the first case of data manipulation, Dr Obokata switched 1 lane of a diagram for another. In the second, she used an image of a teratoma from her doctoral thesis.
Dr Obokata said the first manipulation was for the purpose of image clarity and not made with an intent to deceive readers. And the second “manipulation” was the result of a mix up in Power Point slides.
Dr Obokata also maintained that STAP cells do exist, and she has produced them more than 200 times. She added that she is willing to help scientists trying to replicate her experiments.
Furthermore, the notes that RIKEN reviewed in their investigation—2 notebooks that detail the STAP cell experiments—are not the complete set of notes Dr Obokata made. She said she has at least 4 or 5 other notebooks in different labs.
Dr Obokata has filed an appeal with RIKEN, asking the institute to reconsider its judgment. If RIKEN upholds the allegations of misconduct, Dr Obokata and 2 of her co-authors—Yoshiki Sasai, MD, PhD, and Teruhiko Wakayama, PhD—will face disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, a group of RIKEN investigators is conducting research to determine if STAP cells can be created, but they expect the process to take up to a year.