The team of Japanese scientists who published a study trumpeted as a groundbreaking advancement in stem cell biology are now asking that it be retracted. The study claimed that by dipping blood cells in acid, scientists had discovered they could turn them into stem cells. But since its publication at the end of January, many laboratories have agreed that the method published in this study could not recreate their published results.
There are also questions regarding the team’s data and images.
“When conducting the experiment, I believed it was absolutely right,” commented Teruhiko Wakayama, a professor at Japan’s University of Yamanashi and contributor to the work, who continued:
But now that many mistakes have emerged, I think it is best to withdraw the research paper once and, using correct data and correct pictures, to prove once again the paper is right. If it turns out to be wrong, we would need to make it clear why a thing like this happened.
This certainly isn’t the first study to be retracted. Hopefully, there is something left for the biomedical community to learn after Wakayama’s findings are reviewed and his data is finalised. [Reutuers]