The STAP case scandal: Researcher Haruko Obokata resigns after failing to reproduce her findings

Stem-cell biologist Dr. Haruko Obokata who claimed to have discovered a simple and inexpensive way of producing stem cells, the STAP (Stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency) method, resigned from her position at Riken research institute after she failed to reproduce the results she claimed to have achieved. In her resignation letter, Obokata wrote, "I worked hard for three months to show significant results, but I'm so exhausted now and extremely puzzled. I am keenly aware of my responsibility for troubling a number of people because of my inexperience. I even can't find the words for an apology." Riken stated that her resignation has been accepted.      

The discovery of STAP method was hailed by the scientific community as groundbreaking research and garnered global media attention. Soon, however, fellow researchers challenged Dr. Obokata’s claims when the results in her papers were found to be irreproducible. The Riken institute investigated the accusations of data manipulation and fabrication, and announced that they had found evidence of misconduct. This led to the retraction of both the papers from Nature, which created a media storm. The controversial case took a tragic turn when the senior Japanese scientist Dr. Yoshiki Sasai—a co-author of the STAP papers—committed suicide on August 5 in Riken institute.

Dr. Obokata was given three months by the institute to replicate her results in a specially built laboratory, where she was constantly monitored by scientists and also by surveillance cameras. Although Dr. Obokata claimed to have reproduced her results “more than 200 times” she ultimately was unsuccessful in recreating stem cells using the STAP method in the stipulated period. As a result, she stepped down from her position. Riken announced at a news conference in Tokyo on December 19 that they believe there was little likelihood that such STAP cells actually exist.

Japan’s minister of science and technology, Hakubun Shimomura, expressed regret over the incident and said, "Wrongness based on inexperience cannot be accepted in science."

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