In this episode, I will be presenting the story of Haruko Obakata; a now infamous Japanese scientist who notoriously claimed to have developed a new technique for generating stem cells. This is a story which sadly ends in scandal, suicide, and resounding shockwaves throughout the world of biomedical research.

References

Amid stem cell research scandal, co-author commits suicide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tMMdJRfZHU

Review- "Adult stem cells: hopes and hypes of regenerative medicine"

UNSW Medical School "Embryonic Development" and "Blastocyst Development" https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Embryonic_Development 

Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Mouse Embryonic and Adult Fibroblast Cultures by Defined Factors. Takahashi, Kazutoshi et al. Cell, Volume 126, Issue 4, 663 – 676

"The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 was awarded jointly to Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent" https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2012/

The Promise of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs). Charles A. Goldthwaite Jr., Ph.D. Regenerative Medicine, Chapter 10. National Institutes of Health (2006). https://stemcells.nih.gov/info/Regenerative_Medicine/2006chapter10.htm Accessed 07/06/2018.

Identification and initial characterization of spore‐like cells in adult mammals. Martin P. Vacanti  Amit Roy  Joaquin Cortiella  Lawrence Bonassar  Charles A. Vacanti. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-4644(20010301)80:3%3C455::AID-JCB180%3E3.0.CO;2-Z Accessed 10/06/2018

Stimulus-triggered fate conversion of somatic cells into pluripotency. Haruko Obokata, Teruhiko Wakayama, Yoshiki Sasai, Koji Kojima, Martin P. Vacanti, Hitoshi Niwa, Masayuki Yamato & Charles A. Vacanti Nature volume 505, pages 641–647 (30 January 2014) https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12968

Bidirectional developmental potential in reprogrammed cells with acquired pluripotency. Haruko Obokata, Yoshiki Sasai, Hitoshi Niwa, Mitsutaka Kadota, Munazah Andrabi, Nozomu Takata, Mikiko Tokoro, Yukari Terashita, Shigenobu Yonemura, Charles A. Vacanti & Teruhiko Wakayama Nature volume 505, pages 676–680 (30 January 2014) https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12969

The STEM cell scandal https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/the-stem-cell-scandal

Retraction Watch – University revokes Ph.D. of lead author on retracted stem cell papers. https://retractionwatch.com/2015/11/04/university-revokes-phd-of-lead-author-on-retracted-stap-stem-cell-papers/

Riken Institute Investigation Report http://www3.riken.jp/stap/e/f1document1.pdf

Stem-cell pioneer blamed media 'bashing' in suicide note https://www.nature.com/news/stem-cell-pioneer-blamed-media-bashing-in-suicide-note-1.15715

Collateral damage how one misconduct case brought a biology institute to its knees https://www.nature.com/news/collateral-damage-how-one-misconduct-case-brought-a-biology-institute-to-its-knees-1.17427  

Failure to replicate the STAP cell phenomenon, Nature brief communications arising. Alejandro De Los Angeles, Francesco Ferrari […] George Q. Daley 24 September 2015 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature15513

PubPeer thread concerning the Nature article https://pubpeer.com/publications/8B755710BADFE6FB0A848A44B70F7D

About PubPeer and donation link https://pubpeer.com/static/about

Background Music and Audio Samples

"Ventura Node Module" from the album "Content" by Bio Unit. Content by Bio Unit is licensed under a Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike License.

RIKEN : STAP cells could not be reproduced https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4faAHQEd9_g

Nature interviewed Obakata https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGoxTnFRrCk

Stem Cell Breakthrough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v78AdQNgHj8

Stem cell fraud – Haruko Obakata forced to retraqct paper on stem cells https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tX1-JDuGNA

"Solitude" from the album "Film Music II: Orchestral Works" by David Hilowitz. Solitude by David Hilowitz is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License.

"Healing" by Lee Rosevere. Healing by Lee Rosevere is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License.

Images

Title image: Yoshiki Sasai, right, deputy director of the Riken's Center for Developmental Biology, poses for a photo with Haruko Obokata on Jan. 28, 2014. Image credit Kyodo/Reuters

Thumbnail image: Within a week of exposure to acidic culture conditions, white blood cells gave rise to clusters of cells expressing the pluripotency gene Oct4 (green). Image Credit: Haruko Obokata, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology