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Credit: RIKEN
The Japanese research institute RIKEN has announced that it will not re-investigate the allegations of misconduct levelled against the researcher who claimed to have discovered a new method for inducing pluripotency in somatic cells.
In January, Haruko Obokata, PhD, and her colleagues reported the creation of stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) cells.
The team said they could induce pluripotency by exposing somatic cells to a low-pH environment.
But members of the scientific community voiced concerns about the research, so RIKEN launched an investigation.
In April, the investigative committee concluded that Dr Obokata and some of her colleagues were guilty of misconduct and/or negligence.
Dr Obokata appealed the findings, but the committee has decided another investigation is not warranted. RIKEN has also called for a retraction of the Nature paper in which the committee found evidence of misconduct.
Another RIKEN committee has already met to discuss possible disciplinary action for Dr Obokata and some of her colleagues. Potential punishments range from pay cuts to temporary suspension to disciplinary discharge.
In the meantime, a group headed by Shinichi Aizawa, PhD, special advisor to RIKEN, is attempting to verify the results of the STAP experiments and determine if the STAP phenomenon is, in fact, real.
As the events of this case unfolded, another possible case of misconduct surfaced at RIKEN.
The institute recently announced that Shunsuke Ishii, PhD, chairperson of the committee investigating misconduct in the STAP papers, had resigned from the committee amid concerns about one of his own papers.
RIKEN replaced Dr Ishii with Jun Watanabe, a lawyer already on the committee. And the institute has launched an investigation into Dr Ishii’s work.
Furthermore, RIKEN’s office for internal reform, headed by President Ryoji Noyori, PhD, has commissioned a committee of outside experts to deliberate and recommend measures to prevent research misconduct in the future. 
Credit: RIKEN
The Japanese research institute RIKEN has announced that it will not re-investigate the allegations of misconduct levelled against the researcher who claimed to have discovered a new method for inducing pluripotency in somatic cells.
In January, Haruko Obokata, PhD, and her colleagues reported the creation of stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) cells.
The team said they could induce pluripotency by exposing somatic cells to a low-pH environment.
But members of the scientific community voiced concerns about the research, so RIKEN launched an investigation.
In April, the investigative committee concluded that Dr Obokata and some of her colleagues were guilty of misconduct and/or negligence.
Dr Obokata appealed the findings, but the committee has decided another investigation is not warranted. RIKEN has also called for a retraction of the Nature paper in which the committee found evidence of misconduct.
Another RIKEN committee has already met to discuss possible disciplinary action for Dr Obokata and some of her colleagues. Potential punishments range from pay cuts to temporary suspension to disciplinary discharge.
In the meantime, a group headed by Shinichi Aizawa, PhD, special advisor to RIKEN, is attempting to verify the results of the STAP experiments and determine if the STAP phenomenon is, in fact, real.
As the events of this case unfolded, another possible case of misconduct surfaced at RIKEN.
The institute recently announced that Shunsuke Ishii, PhD, chairperson of the committee investigating misconduct in the STAP papers, had resigned from the committee amid concerns about one of his own papers.
RIKEN replaced Dr Ishii with Jun Watanabe, a lawyer already on the committee. And the institute has launched an investigation into Dr Ishii’s work.
Furthermore, RIKEN’s office for internal reform, headed by President Ryoji Noyori, PhD, has commissioned a committee of outside experts to deliberate and recommend measures to prevent research misconduct in the future.
Credit: RIKEN
The Japanese research institute RIKEN has announced that it will not re-investigate the allegations of misconduct levelled against the researcher who claimed to have discovered a new method for inducing pluripotency in somatic cells.
In January, Haruko Obokata, PhD, and her colleagues reported the creation of stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) cells.
The team said they could induce pluripotency by exposing somatic cells to a low-pH environment.
But members of the scientific community voiced concerns about the research, so RIKEN launched an investigation.
In April, the investigative committee concluded that Dr Obokata and some of her colleagues were guilty of misconduct and/or negligence.
Dr Obokata appealed the findings, but the committee has decided another investigation is not warranted. RIKEN has also called for a retraction of the Nature paper in which the committee found evidence of misconduct.
Another RIKEN committee has already met to discuss possible disciplinary action for Dr Obokata and some of her colleagues. Potential punishments range from pay cuts to temporary suspension to disciplinary discharge.
In the meantime, a group headed by Shinichi Aizawa, PhD, special advisor to RIKEN, is attempting to verify the results of the STAP experiments and determine if the STAP phenomenon is, in fact, real.
As the events of this case unfolded, another possible case of misconduct surfaced at RIKEN.
The institute recently announced that Shunsuke Ishii, PhD, chairperson of the committee investigating misconduct in the STAP papers, had resigned from the committee amid concerns about one of his own papers.
RIKEN replaced Dr Ishii with Jun Watanabe, a lawyer already on the committee. And the institute has launched an investigation into Dr Ishii’s work.
Furthermore, RIKEN’s office for internal reform, headed by President Ryoji Noyori, PhD, has commissioned a committee of outside experts to deliberate and recommend measures to prevent research misconduct in the future.