Japan lab weighing retraction of stem cell paper

[matsuki]

Sad news.
Obokata is currently trying to repeat the work under serious invigilation conditions, with absolutely no way to cheat this time. Maybe the preliminary results are in and they didn't look good.

How the fuck is she still employed?

[Coligny]

Sad news.
Obokata is currently trying to repeat the work under serious invigilation conditions, with absolutely no way to cheat this time. Maybe the preliminary results are in and they didn't look good.

How the fuck is she still employed?

Japan...

[legion]

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... 50341.html

Do they come with mice?

[Russell]

The man who didn't grow balls

The train line from mainland Kobe is a marvel of urban transportation. Opened in 1981, Japan’s first driverless, fully automated train pulls out of Sannomiya station, guided smoothly along elevated tracks that stand precariously over the bustling city streets below, across the bay to the Port Island.

The island, and much of the city, was razed to the ground in the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 – which killed more than 5,000 people and destroyed more than 100,000 of Kobe’s buildings – and built anew in subsequent years. As the train proceeds, the landscape fills with skyscrapers. The Rokkō mountains come into view, looming menacingly over the city, peppered with smoke billowing from the dozens of narrow chimneys of the electronics, steel and shipbuilding factories.

Today, as well as housing the Port of Kobe, the man-made island contains hotels, medical centres, universities, a large convention centre and an Ikea store. There are also three government-funded RIKEN research institutions: the Advanced Institute of Computational Science (which is home to what was, until 2011, the world’s fastest supercomputer), the Center for Life Science Technologies, and the Centre for Developmental Biology (CDB).

At the entrance to one of the labs, a faded poster in a thin plastic frame shows the crew of the Starship Enterprise, a young Captain Kirk sitting proudly at the helm. Underneath is the famous Star Trek slogan: “To boldly go where no man has gone before.”

On the other side of the door, scientists in the Laboratory for Organogenesis and Neurogenesis are working on something that has fired the imagination of science fiction authors for many years. They are at the cutting edge of an emerging field: rebuilding the body by growing tissues and organs from stem cells. They hope to develop the next generation of therapies for a variety of debilitating human diseases, and unravel the mysteries of brain development.

[Long and interesting story about growing artificial organs and vaginas, blah blah]

Back in Kobe, the researchers at the Laboratory for Organogenesis and Neurogenesis are growing tissues and organs using an altogether different approach, which doesn’t use scaffolds. Remarkably, they have found that embryonic stem cells can organise themselves into highly complex three-dimensional structures when guided in the right direction. Using a specially developed technique, the team has already coaxed embryonic stem cells to become partial pituitary glands and even bits of brains. Their greatest achievement to date is growing partial embryonic eyes, complete with retinal tissue containing light-sensitive cells, in the hope of developing a new stem cell-based treatment for various diseases that cause blindness.

“We really don’t know where we are going with this,” Yoshiki Sasai, the then director of the lab and Deputy Director of the CDB, told me. “We really are at the final frontier, facing an unknown world.”

[...]

When I arrive at the CDB in late January, Sasai is in huge demand: his colleagues have just published a major stem cell discovery, which Sasai played a small part in. Several Japanese television news teams stand between me and my arranged interview, all vying for my subject’s attention.

Beyond the Star Trek poster is a meeting room containing a large table and a standing whiteboard. Books and scientific journals line two of its walls. Behind one door is Sasai’s office, and I watch as two administrative assistants scurry in and out. Behind another door is the main lab area, a large room divided into smaller sections by shelves stacked with bottles of reagents and lab benches crammed with centrifuges and boxes of disposable pipette tips and latex gloves. I take a seat behind the table and wait.

Across the hallway are several other rooms, all with neatly aligned rows of slippers sitting outside. These rooms house more specialised equipment. In one is an atomic force microscope equipped with microscopic cantilevers, which Sasai and his colleagues use to measure the minuscule mechanical forces involved in morphogenesis. In the other, there is a spinning disc confocal incubation microscope, in which the team can film their lab-grown tissues as they buckle and unfurl.

Growing these complex tissues is much more challenging than growing sheets of skin or connective tissue. Sasai and his colleagues have developed a novel way of growing and maintaining embryonic stem cells in a 3D environment – suspended in the culture medium that nourishes them, instead of laying flat on the surface of a petri dish. They have found that embryonic stem cells grown in this way can spontaneously organise themselves to form the complex tissues that make up eyes, glands and brain tissue.

[...]

When Sasai arrived for our interview, he was calm, reserved and apparently unflustered by the media chaos in the corridor outside. As he sat down at the table beside me, his assistant brought us green tea. I asked him about the Star Trek poster. He was not a big fan, he said, but he thought it appropriate because he had no idea where his work on lab-grown organs might lead.

Brain tissue is the least complex of the structures that the team created. When grown under slightly different conditions, they mimic another complex organ.

[...]

The real potential of regenerative medicine, according to Chris Mason, a professor of regenerative medicine bioprocessing at UCL, lies in the ability to grow cells derived from patients. “I think the value is that we can better understand diseases,” he says. “You could make neurons from induced pluripotent stem cells taken from patients with Parkinson’s or motor neuron disease. They’ll give us a real opportunity to understand the disease process better, and to look for new drugs that either reverse the disease or prevent it from occurring.”

Yet when I met Sasai, he believed that his method would ultimately lead to what he less modestly called “next, next generation” therapies. He hoped that specific types of lab-grown neurons could be used to develop new treatments that replace the cells that die in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and motor neuron diseases, or as a result of stroke or any other kind of brain injury.

On 5 August 2014, Yoshiki Sasai was found dead next to his lab. His death was an apparent suicide: the tragic result of a scandal surrounding the January stem cell discovery, which was published in Nature, and its eventual retraction. “The scientific world has lost a talented and dedicated researcher, who earned our deep respect for the advanced research he carried out over many years,” said Ryōji Noyori, President of RIKEN, in a statement on Sasai’s death. At the time of writing, an independent committee had recommended that the CDB be dismantled.

Sasai was cleared of any involvement in the misconduct, but he was criticised for failing to properly supervise the work and the researcher responsible. He had helped establish the centre in 2000, and his team’s work had put it on the map as a world-class research institution. He reportedly felt “deeply ashamed” about the incident, which had engulfed his institution and himself.

[...]

[url-http://www.theguardian.com/science/neurophilosophy/2014/aug/26/the-man-who-grew-eyes]More[/url]

Looks like the guy was an excellent scientist caught up by a femme fatale.

Funny, news just in that they could not replicate Obokata's results.

[matsuki]

Somehow I think that bitch is too full of herself to fall on her own sword...

[canman]

Another blow to her findings, another group couldn't reproduce her findings. But it seems the media is taking a lot of pleasure in her downfall.

[Yokohammer]

Another blow to her findings, another group couldn't reproduce her findings. But it seems the media is taking a lot of pleasure in her downfall.

Not sure that it's pleasure, but they're sure making a circus out of it.

Obokata has handed in her resignation after more than 1,000 attempts to reproduce her findings under tightly controlled conditions have failed. Riken finally decided to pull the plug.

[kurogane]

Somehow I think that bitch is too full of herself to fall on her own sword...

OTOH, she could easily go into AV and fall on someone else's.........again and again and again................I'd love to see the dogfart boys cover her in their stem cells.

I do wonder just how much of the fraud was her pulling and others pushing, but she's a cheat so she got what she deserved. Terrible what happened to her supervisor. As Russell said, he seemed like a fine scientist.

[matsuki]

Somehow I think that bitch is too full of herself to fall on her own sword...

OTOH, she could easily go into AV and fall on someone else's.........again and again and again................I'd love to see the dogfart boys cover her in their stem cells.

I do wonder just how much of the fraud was her pulling and others pushing, but she's a cheat so she got what she deserved. Terrible what happened to her supervisor. As Russell said, he seemed like a fine scientist.

AV or fuzoku may be her only options after this fraud. I hope her supervisor's family is suing the fuck out of her (or at least making her life hell)

[kurogane]

Assuming she has even a smidgeon of decency left hopefully she's doing that to herself. I doubt she could be held legally liable anyways, and suicide is usually the coward's way out at any rate, with sympathy to the man himself and his family and coworkers. As I have maintained all along, allowing that ultimate responsibility is hers I do wonder how much of a from behind the curtains dog & pony show this actually was. Even allowing for an absence of sexual shenanigans there is no way a young researcher of talented and training that limited got as far as she did without being somebody big's pet flavour of the month. She didn't even attend a ranked science university (unless Waseda has been hiding its scientific expertise).

Perhaps Russell and other Real Scientists could comment, but this sort of star protege grooming is rampant in all venues I attended, especially if she's doable and willing to do it. My own postgraduate research group was like a revolving gangbang at one point, and the rather obvious overtones continued well into my postdoctoral. Ranking academic males are like a bunch of power tripping chimps, the academy itself is a testosterone driven gyrocopter, women know what they need to do to get ahead, and ambitious and reasonably attractive women often decide it's worth it to do so. It's not all that different from AV recruitment techniques and careers. I could say I feel for her, but I probably just want to feel her. And watch her do Dogfart. In a lab. In her lab glasses.

[Takechanpoo]

i know you gaijin dudes who has been abused by passive aggressive way here, are wholeheartedly glad to hear its official fake.
but "unfortunately" we japanese have another one.

Muse cell
http://www.stemcells.med.tohoku.ac.jp/outline/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_cell

its another J-stem cell by Tohoku Univ

[matsuki]

i know you gaijin dudes who has been abused by passive aggressive way here, are wholeheartedly glad to hear its official fake.

It's more about over-hyping some asshole based on lies....just like this:

but "unfortunately" we japanese have another one.

Muse cell
http://www.stemcells.med.tohoku.ac.jp/outline/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse_cell

its another J-stem cell by Tohoku Univ

What's unfortunate about that? That's awesome!

[kurogane]

Totally. This would actually be a rather poetic point for Take to drop his own BS and fess up to being Chester from Leicester.

[Wage Slave]

I do think he is a bone fide, dyed in the wool racist though. Notice how he seizes on any opportunity to try and stir up racist feeling anywhere and between anyone he can. Exactly what stripe hardly matters with these people - it's all about hatred and inciting conflict. And regardless, that's the goal in itself eh Takechin.

[Mike Oxlong]

Riken considers filing criminal complaint against Obokata

A researcher embroiled in a fabrication scandal that rocked Japan’s scientific establishment may face possible criminal charges for falsifying images on her STAP cell research.

The researcher, Haruko Obokata, resigned from the Japanese government-affiliated research institute Riken last December after she failed to reproduce results of what was once billed as a ground-breaking study on stem cells.

Riken said Tuesday it is considering filing a criminal complaint against Obokata and also demanding she return research funds to the institute.

Last January, Riken trumpeted Obokata’s simple method to reprogram adult cells to work like stem cells—precursors that are capable of developing into any other cell in the human body.

Her work was published in the international journal Nature. The study was top news in Japan, where the Harvard-trained Obokata became a phenomenon.

But media attention soon grew into skepticism as doubts emerged about her papers on Stimulus-Triggered Acquisition of Pluripotency (STAP).

Mistakes were discovered in some data published in two papers, photograph captions were found to be misleading, and the work itself could not be repeated by other scientists, leading to accusations the data had been doctored.

Obokata, who asserted that she created STAP cells some 200 times, tried since July, in tandem with independent teams, to reproduce her own results. She claimed there was a secret technique for creating STAP cells, but refused to publicise it, asserting it is a subject of her future papers.

The Britain-based Nature withdrew the flawed study after Obokata agreed in June to retract the papers.

As the scandal deepened, Obokata’s mentor and co-author, stem cell scientist Yoshiki Sasai, hanged himself, further shaking Japan’s scientific establishment.

Riken has pledged to restructure its Center for Developmental Biology where the scandal took place.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/crim ... st-obokata

[Russell]

Hmm, she should be earning the wages of a pron actress to pay off all those liabilities...

[matsuki]

Obokata, who asserted that she created STAP cells some 200 times, tried since July, in tandem with independent teams, to reproduce her own results. She claimed there was a secret technique for creating STAP cells, but refused to publicise it, asserting it is a subject of her future papers.

[Coligny]

Obokata, who asserted that she created STAP cells some 200 times, tried since July, in tandem with independent teams, to reproduce her own results. She claimed there was a secret technique for creating STAP cells, but refused to publicise it, asserting it is a subject of her future papers.

Yea, the secret sauce excuse...

Almost always work...

Almost...

[Yokohammer]

Serious for just a second (which is about as long as I can handle it) ...

Personally, I think the severest allowable penalties should be imposed. There's simply no way (that I can see) that an honest researcher could end up in this situation through innocent mistakes and misunderstanding. There is some intent to deceive going on here. And what makes it really ugly is that the claims, if true, would have provided real hope for a wide range of currently difficult and untreatable medical conditions. That lie ... the false hope ... has hurt the research establishment as much as it has hurt the people, current and future, who might have benefited from such a breakthrough.

Of course there's a possibility that Obokata has real mental issues and had actually deluded herself, but then how the heck did she end up as a research team leader at a prestigious government related research institute? I kinda doubt it.

[kurogane]

While she should certainly suffer any and all applicable penalties and censure I would really, really, really like to see those that sold her up and covered for her also take a lashing. This fairly stinks of her being the lamb sent to the slaughter by the very institution that allowed this farce to take place. Which could be a great theme for her upcoming porn debut. I know Japanese Anal Courthouse piqued my interest in Japanese legal procedures; this could really popularise science amongst the drooling masses.

And like Yoko says, she must be nuts too. Maybe Russell can comment as well, but there is no shortage of loony tuners in academia and that big a dangled carrot could easily send an almost normal person over the edge, though that doesn't mean she couldn't also have been maliciously and strategically conniving, deceitful and manipulative, just that she is sort of not entirely responsible for the result if she's a nutbag.

Oh, and she's NOT Harvard trained either. Not even really Tokyo trained. Gawd, the press are so slavish.

[Coligny]

... but then how the heck did she end up as a research team leader at a prestigious government related research institute? I kinda doubt it.

Awwww... You sound like a tamed (*) housecat...

Never heard of the power of blowjobs ? There's plenty of Nationnal Youporngeographics documentaries available on the interwabs aboot their mythical existence...


(*) wanted to say 'fixed' but remembered in time your pussy magnet beemer...

[Yokohammer]

... but then how the heck did she end up as a research team leader at a prestigious government related research institute? I kinda doubt it.

Awwww... You sound like a tamed (*) housecat...

Never heard of the power of blowjobs ? There's plenty of Nationnal Youporngeographics documentaries available on the interwabs aboot their mythical existence...


(*) wanted to say 'fixed' but remembered in time your pussy magnet beemer...

I would have hoped that with your highly attuned sense of innuendo you would have realised that possibility, in addition to others, was inferred. The guy who committed suicide being a likely beneficiary.

*Sigh* ...

EDIT: You're jealous of my Beemer.

[matsuki]

I say burn the witch at the stake...the assholes who helped her get there are a different issue entirely and can be addressed separately. With this bitch, there is no gray area or amount of teeth sucking that can play this shit off as anything other than her selling everyone a really expensive and prestigious load of bullshit. If she was the "samurai" that the J-media claim, bitch would have already fallen on her own sword.

[Coligny]

... but then how the heck did she end up as a research team leader at a prestigious government related research institute? I kinda doubt it.

Awwww... You sound like a tamed (*) housecat...

Never heard of the power of blowjobs ? There's plenty of Nationnal Youporngeographics documentaries available on the interwabs aboot their mythical existence...


(*) wanted to say 'fixed' but remembered in time your pussy magnet beemer...

I would have hoped that with your highly attuned sense of innuendo you would have realised that possibility, in addition to others, was inferred. The guy who committed suicide being a likely beneficiary.
.

As godwallahuhsnackbar is my witness, I wuz sure it was already been published that the girl had issue keeping her legs crossed... (Hence the inouhaindeau double backing)...


.

EDIT: You're jealous of my Beemer.

Common, there's not even enough room in that toy to install a portaloo... Or even a TP holder...

[kurogane]

Do keep in mind that we are talking about lab rats here. Since she's not all that bad looking, and is known to be almost ridiculously coquettish her simple presence could have well been enough to sway all their beating hearts. Add in a touch of genuine progressive inclination and scientific professionalism and you have a recipe for this disaster.

But I still say porn for her.

[Yokohammer]

Do keep in mind that we are talking about lab rats here. Since she's not all that bad looking, and is known to be almost ridiculously coquettish her simple presence could have well been enough to sway all their beating hearts. Add in a touch of genuine progressive inclination and scientific professionalism and you have a recipe for this disaster.

But I still say porn for her.

Stimulating Titillating Adult Porn ... Hey! STAP!

[matsuki]

"Kyaaaa They're coming after me! I need your hot STAP cells now but I'm all out of petri dishes..."

[kurogane]

She's got serious tatas. An Obokata suri saizu Google result claims E or F. They look like slightly tubey to me, but they're bound to be better than the rocks in socks on that sports reporter that debuted a bit ago.

[matsuki]

She's got serious tatas. An Obokata suri saizu Google result claims E or F. They look like slightly tubey to me, but they're bound to be better than the rocks in socks on that sports reporter that debuted a bit ago.

Better than I expected....which sports reporter are you referring to?

[kurogane]

She came up on here somewhere a bit back. One of those J cup midgets. Cute face and all, but.............

LMGTFY: Kaho Shibuya

http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2014/12/20/squeeze-play-ex-baseball-reporter-for-tokyo-sports-now-a-porn-actress/

A dreadful dickumentary. Stupid storyline, ridiculous mosaic and hideous tubular bells. And apparently they still do that simulated sex with some actresses.

I'll take Gangbang Court anyday. (xhamster)