NATIONAL OCT. 30, 2015 - 07:10PM JST ( 29 )TOKYO —
Japan’s Waseda University is set to revoke the doctoral degree given to Haruko Obokata, a former researcher at the heart of a data fabrication scandal surrounding what was initially seen as a groundbreaking stem cell discovery, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.
The former Riken institute researcher failed to correct her 2011 thesis within a one-year deadline set by the university last October, they said, adding Obokata had asked for more time but was refused.
Waseda said the same day that it will hold a news conference on Monday, apparently to explain to the public how the university had reached its conclusion.
Flaws in her work were revealed in an investigation launched after data fabrication and falsification were found in papers she and fellow researchers published last year, claiming they had succeeded in creating STAP cells, or stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency cells, which they said can grow into any mouse body tissue.
The papers, which appeared in the British science journal Nature in January 2014, were retracted in July the same year.
In April last year, Riken found Obokata had manipulated data for the STAP cell papers. Waseda University, which launched an investigative panel separately over her doctoral thesis, concluded the following July that her work contained copyright infringements and other flaws.
The university, however, also acknowledged there had been serious flaws in the guidance and screening process, and reprimanded those responsible for the tasks while giving Obokata the one-year period to correct her dissertation under adequate supervision.
The scandal has shaken stem-cell research and sparked a debate about research ethics.
Last month, seven laboratories based in the United States, China, the Netherlands and Israel have confirmed that STAP cells could not be reproduced using the method promoted by Obokata and co-authors despite more than 100 attempts. Riken also said what was touted as STAP cells originated from embryonic stem cells.
© KYODO
Japan’s Waseda University is set to revoke the doctoral degree given to Haruko Obokata, a former researcher at the heart of a data fabrication scandal surrounding what was initially seen as a groundbreaking stem cell discovery, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.
The former Riken institute researcher failed to correct her 2011 thesis within a one-year deadline set by the university last October, they said, adding Obokata had asked for more time but was refused.
Waseda said the same day that it will hold a news conference on Monday, apparently to explain to the public how the university had reached its conclusion.
Flaws in her work were revealed in an investigation launched after data fabrication and falsification were found in papers she and fellow researchers published last year, claiming they had succeeded in creating STAP cells, or stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency cells, which they said can grow into any mouse body tissue.
The papers, which appeared in the British science journal Nature in January 2014, were retracted in July the same year.
In April last year, Riken found Obokata had manipulated data for the STAP cell papers. Waseda University, which launched an investigative panel separately over her doctoral thesis, concluded the following July that her work contained copyright infringements and other flaws.
The university, however, also acknowledged there had been serious flaws in the guidance and screening process, and reprimanded those responsible for the tasks while giving Obokata the one-year period to correct her dissertation under adequate supervision.
The scandal has shaken stem-cell research and sparked a debate about research ethics.
Last month, seven laboratories based in the United States, China, the Netherlands and Israel have confirmed that STAP cells could not be reproduced using the method promoted by Obokata and co-authors despite more than 100 attempts. Riken also said what was touted as STAP cells originated from embryonic stem cells.
© KYODO