Unexplained abnormalities in stem cells prompt Columbia researchers to pull diabetes paper

Researchers at Columbia University have retracted a 2013 paper in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, after uncovering abnormalities in the stem cell lines that undermined the conclusions in the paper. Last year, corresponding author Dieter Egli discovered he could not reproduce key data in the 2013 paper because almost all the cell lines first author Haiqing Hua used … Continue reading Unexplained abnormalities in stem cells prompt Columbia researchers to pull diabetes paper

Students withdraw report of private stem cell retreat

Master’s students have retracted a review of an internal meeting of stem cell researchers because it contained confidential information. According to the Managing Director of the society, Stem Cell Network North Rhine Westphalia (NRW), the event was not open to the public, and the authors had not contacted either the society or the scientists they cited … Continue reading Students withdraw report of private stem cell retreat

University of Tokyo opens investigation into retracted stem cell paper

The University of Tokyo is investigating a 2011 stem cell paper in Cell Cycle, recently retracted over irregularities in four figures. The university has confirmed there is an investigation, but would not specify which paper it concerned; the corresponding author on the paper, however, confirmed to us that it is the focus of the investigation. … Continue reading University of Tokyo opens investigation into retracted stem cell paper

Stem cell researchers fix two papers following PubPeer comments

A pair of stem cell researchers have earned two corrections, the result of images that were mislabeled, distorted, or compiled incorrectly, according to the notices. Kang Cheng prepared the gels when he was a research fellow in last author Sanjeev Gupta‘s lab at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Gupta told us he reviewed the original gels, and the errors didn’t affect the … Continue reading Stem cell researchers fix two papers following PubPeer comments

Stem cell researcher in Spain dismissed following investigation

A promising early career researcher has been dismissed from her post at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) in Spain, following “an alleged ongoing fraud,” according to El Pais. We don’t know what exactly the internal investigation into Susana González’s work found; El Pais relied on anonymous sources, and the CNIC confirmed only that they dismissed her on February 29th. … Continue reading Stem cell researcher in Spain dismissed following investigation

STAP stem cell researcher Obokata loses another paper

The first author of two high-profile Nature retractions about a technique to easily create stem cells has lost another paper in Nature Protocols. Haruko Obokata, once “a lab director’s dream,” according to The New Yorker, also had her PhD revoked from Waseda University last fall. After learning of concerns that two figures are “very similar” and “some of the … Continue reading STAP stem cell researcher Obokata loses another paper

Stem cell researcher that sued Harvard failed to disclose conflicts on 6 publications

Piero Anversa, a stem cell researcher who we recently learned is leaving Harvard and Brigham & Women’s Hospital after suing them, has added a disclosure statement to six publications. The four papers and two letters were published in Circulation, and all bear identical corrections: Piero Anversa, MD, discloses that he is a member of Analogous, LLC. The author … Continue reading Stem cell researcher that sued Harvard failed to disclose conflicts on 6 publications

Stem cell researcher who sued Harvard, Brigham & Women’s is leaving his post

A stem cell researcher who sued his employers, Harvard and Brigham & Women’s Hospital, is headed to Switzerland. Piero Anversa‘s departure follows the dismissal of his suit last summer. Anversa filed the suit with colleague Annarosa Leri, claiming that an investigation into their work damaged their reputations: they lost a multimillion-dollar offer to purchase their company, Autologous/Progenital; and both … Continue reading Stem cell researcher who sued Harvard, Brigham & Women’s is leaving his post

University revokes PhD of first author on retracted STAP stem cell papers

Waseda University has revoked the doctorate degree of the first author on the now-retracted Nature papers about a technique to create stem cells. The technique — which claimed to provide a new way to nudge young cells from mice into pluripotency — was initially described in two 2014 Nature papers, both first-authored by Haruko Obokata. However, the … Continue reading University revokes PhD of first author on retracted STAP stem cell papers

Stem cell researcher Jacob Hanna’s correction count updated to 10

Thanks to some eagle-eyed readers, we’ve been alerted to some corrections for high profile stem cell scientist Jacob Hanna that we had missed, bringing our count to one retraction and 13 errata on 10 papers. The problems in the work range from duplications of images, to inadvertent deletions in figures, to failures by his co-authors to disclose … Continue reading Stem cell researcher Jacob Hanna’s correction count updated to 10