Japan scientist in discredited stem-cell research dead in suicide

[Buster's Uncle]

Japan scientist in discredited stem-cell research dead in suicide
Reuters
8 hours ago



Yoshiki Sasai, deputy director of the Riken's Center for Developmental Biology, attends a news conference in Tokyo, in this photo taken by Kyodo April 16, 2014. REUTERS/Kyodo



TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese researcher at the center of discredited research that was initially hailed as a potential breakthrough for stem-cell treatment, killed himself after months of stress and exhaustion, officials said on Tuesday.

Yoshiki Sasai, co-author of the high-profile research that had seemed to offer hope for replacing damaged cells or even growing new human organs, was found early on Tuesday at the Riken institute where he worked in Kobe, western Japan, police and the institute said.

"It is confirmed as a suicide," said a police spokesman. "It was a hanging."

Sasai, 52, had been hospitalized in March for stress and become less receptive to media inquiries during the controversy over the team's research, said Riken spokesman Satoru Kagaya.

The scientist "had seemed completely exhausted" in their last phone conversation around May or June, Kagaya told a televised news conference.

As deputy director of Riken's Center for Developmental Biology, Sasai supervised the work of lead author Haruko Obokata, which took the world of molecular biology by storm when it was published in the British journal Nature in January.



Yoshiki Sasai (R), deputy director of the Riken's Center for Developmental Biology, poses for a photo with Haruko Obokata, a scientist at the center, in front of a screen showing Stimulus-Triggered Acquisition of Pluripotency (STAP) cells, in Kobe, western Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo January 28, 2014. REUTERS/Kyodo


It was retracted after months of controversy that made front-page news in Japan and tarnished the country's reputation for scientific research.

"It is very unfortunate that this happened," said the government's top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. "Mr Sasai contributed greatly in the field of developmental biology and was an internationally renowned researcher."

Riken president Ryoji Noyori expressed "deep regret over the loss of an irreplaceable scientist."

In what looked like game-changing discovery, Obokata, Sasai and the other authors described simple ways to reprogram mature animal cells back to an embryonic-like state, allowing them to generate many different types of cells.

But questions soon arose about the research, as other scientists could not replicate the startling claims. Riken said its investigation found Obokata had plagiarized and fabricated parts of the papers, raising doubts about the credibility of Japanese science.

After defending her work for months against Riken's claims, Obokata agreed in June to retract the papers, which Nature did in early July.

Despite the retractions of the research papers, Sasai never wavered in his belief that Stimulus-Triggered Acquisition of Pluripotency, or STAP, cells could exist, Japanese media said.

Obokata was "very shocked" at Sasai's suicide and was being assisted by two Riken staffers, Kagaya said.

Sasai left five suicide notes, including two addressed to senior Riken officials, he said. He would not disclose the contents or to whom the other letters were addressed.

Sasai started receiving counseling in April and recently had trouble communicating due to side-effects of medical treatments he was undergoing, media reported.

(Reporting by Megumi Lim; Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by William Mallard and Robert Birsel)


http://news.yahoo.com/japan-scientist-discredited-stem-cell-research-dead-suicide-092920611.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Japanese Researcher, an Author of Discredited Stem Cell Study, Is Dead
The New York Times
By HIROKO TABUCHIAUG. 5, 2014



Yoshiki Sasai, right, was a co-author of a highly publicized paper on stem cells. A protégée and lead author, Haruko Obokata, left, came under intense criticism after the paper's errors came to light. Credit Kyodo/Reuters



A leading Japanese life science researcher and co-author of a stem cell study that was later retracted because of errors and allegations of misconduct has taken his own life, his colleagues said on Tuesday.

Yoshiki Sasai, deputy director of the Riken Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, was a co-author of a highly publicized study claiming that a simple acid bath could turn cells in the body into stem cells, which could one day be used for a wide range of medical treatments.

But other stem cell experts soon pointed out numerous errors in the two papers on the study published by Nature in January, together with possible examples of plagiarism and images that appeared to be duplicated or manipulated. Early attempts to replicate the study failed. Nature retracted the papers in July.

Riken cleared Dr. Sasai of any direct involvement in the misconduct, which it attributed to the lead author of the papers, Haruko Obokata. Dr. Obokata, a protégée of Dr. Sasai’s and a rare top female scientist in Japan, briefly became a media sensation there for her research, only to become the object of ridicule and intense criticism as the paper’s errors came to light.

But the scandal took a heavy toll on Dr. Sasai, his colleagues said. It also threatened Dr. Sasai’s life work, at the Center for Developmental Biology, which an independent committee has since recommended should be dismantled. Dr. Sasai had played a large part in getting the center off the ground and helping it grow into one of the world’s leading centers of stem cell research.

Dr. Sasai was discovered Tuesday morning hanging in a stairwell on the fifth floor of his Kobe research building, according to local media reports. He was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead shortly after 11 a.m., the reports said.

“It’s extremely unfortunate. He did appear a little depressed, but I did not think for one moment that it would come to this,” Shigekazu Saito, another deputy director at the center, told reporters on Tuesday.

Several letters addressed to Dr. Sasai’s colleagues were found in his briefcase and on his secretary’s desk, according to the public broadcaster NHK. One of the letters was addressed to Dr. Obokata.

Dr. Obokata could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Philip Campbell, editor in chief of Nature, called Dr. Sasai’s death “a true tragedy for science and an immense loss to the research community.”

Dr. Sasai “was an exceptional scientist and he has left an extraordinary legacy of pioneering work across many fields within stem cell and developmental biology,” the Nature editor said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this time.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/business/Yoshiki-Sasai-an-author-of-discredited-stem-cell-study-is-found-dead.html?partner=yahoofinance&_r=0