Scandals galore in stem cell research: a fresh perspective
The most infamous incident of academic misconduct in 2014 was the acid-bath stem cell research by Haruko Obokata at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, Japan. This controversy reminded scientists around the world of a similar academic scandal from ten years ago. In February 2004, Hwang Woo-suk, a Korean scientist, claimed that he had successfully extracted stem cell lines from cloned human embryos; this implied that any type of human body cell could be generated from these cell lines for the purpose of treatment. These cells could match any patient genetically and evade the patient’s immune system. This claim immediately generated an unprecedented amount of attention within the field of stem cell research, triggering a lot of excitement about its possibilities. However, on discovering that the research results had been forged, the media stormed the scientific community, in a manner similar to that witnessed after the ‘STAP cells scandal.’ Two major papers were withdrawn, and the careers of several scientists ended abruptly.
Other similar notorious incidents have occurred in stem cell research. One of them surrounded the works of Bodo-Eckehard Strauer, a German expert involved in the treatment of heart diseases using stem cells. He claimed that the mesenchymal stem cells in the bone marrow could heal damage to the heart. He became a highly controversial figure in 2001 when he claimed for the first time during his association with the University of Dusseldorf, Germany (he retired from this organization in 2009), that human stem cells could heal damage to the heart. Along with media reports on the skeptical nature of these claims, several stem cell scientists have publicly expressed their doubts as well. A recent paper published in the International Journal of Cardiology carefully analyzed the 48 papers published by his research group and raised a series of questions, including those regarding calculation errors in the statistical analyses used and identical responses from patient groups of different sizes.
Another notable incident involved some American scholars from the field of cardiac stem cell therapy. The very first study associated with the clinical trial SCIPIO by Professor Piero Anversa of Harvard University involved academic misconduct. This study claimed that cardiac stem cells extracted from the aorta could treat heart failure with satisfying results. Harvard is currently investigating into the reliability of some of the data presented in the paper documenting this study, which was published in Lancet in 2011.
Yet another controversial case involved the stem cell therapy promoted by Stamina, an Italian company that claimed that bone marrow cells cultured with vitamin A acid for two hours in vitro could be transformed into neural cells. These cells could then be injected into the bodies of patients to heal neural damage. However, the Ministry of Health of Italy deemed the Stamina stem cell therapy as invalid because it lacked adequate theoretical and practical basis.
So why are there so many scandals surrounding stem cell research, and why are they taken so seriously? I believe that there are three reasons:
1. The stem cell research field is expanding and this increases the likelihood of problems. I do agree that this is not the only predominant reason. Neuroscience, for instance, is more popular than stem cell research, but involves much significantly fewer controversies
2. The stem cell research field is intensely interest-driven. It has a large transformative potential, which means that its commercial implications are also vast. This generates the possibility of academic aspects being “kidnapped” by the commercial sector. As a new field in biomedicine, stem cell research is the largest beacon of hope in the medical field, especially for regenerative medicine; stem cell therapy allows people to imagine fantastic possibilities. This fascination is sometimes used to extend promises and deceive patients, and controversies arise. This trend has created significant impact on academics, where the attention from the German and Italian stem cell scandals has triggered profit-seeking practices among stem cell research companies.
3. The pursuit of high visibility and media coverage for academic papers has become an irreversible global trend. This is also true for stem cell research. In the pursuit of news coverage and visibility, scholars publish literature to gain recognition at the expense of reliability and opt for extreme measures such as fabrication of research results. Such trends leave a lasting impact in the super-competitive field of stem cell research, which is tragic not only for this field but for life sciences in general.
The impact of these three factors is steadily increasing. The chaos in stem cell research is likely to persist, perhaps, until the application of stem cells becomes conventional and the limelight it garners reduces considerably.
You might also like to read the post Misplaced trust? The problem in science publication.
Published on: Aug 26, 2014
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