Introduction

Doubts raised regarding 'breakthrough' STAP cell research

Doubts raised regarding 'breakthrough' STAP cell research

A Japanese scientist called on Monday for his own headline-grabbing study on stem cells to be withdrawn from publication, saying its findings had now been thrown into too much doubt. The research – hailed when it came out in January as a breakthrough that could herald a new era of medical biology – was covered widely across the world after it was published in the highly reputable science journal Nature.

But since then, there have been reports that other scientists have been unable to replicate the Japanese team’s results and that there may have been problems with its data and images.

“It is no longer clear what is right,” said Teruhiko Wakayama, a professor at Japan’s University of Yamanashi who was part of the researcher team.

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