DM
Tokyo -A Japanese scientist who published a paper claiming ordinary cells could be turned into stem cells by bathing them in acid has today been forced to apologise after she was accused of falsifying data.
Haruko Obokata, 30, choked back tears during a televised news conference packed with hundreds of reporters, but insisted she did not tamper with the data to fabricate results.
She said she did not agree with retracting the research, claiming that cell transformation had been ‘confirmed many times for a fact’ and vowed to prove it if she is allowed back into a lab. She has contested allegations of research malpractice made by a panel of scientists at the government-funded Riken Center for Development Biology, where she is employed.
Obokata said the company had advised her not to speak publicly about the controversy and today’s press conference, which lasted for over two hours, marks her first public appearance in weeks. The decision to appear was made despite doctors’ orders to stay at home after she went to hospital for treatment treatment Monday. ‘I wasn’t able to sleep well and was feeling worse and worse,’ she said. ‘I take this responsibility severely. I am deeply sorry.’
Obokata apologised repeatedly for using wrong images and for having altered an image in the report. She attributed her mistakes to inexperience and her ‘limited abilities,’ and appealed to fellow researchers to continue the work. She added: ‘The research was done accurately and the data exists to prove it so I would like to ask for your understanding that the research paper was not completed with a malicious intent.’
Obokata said she opposes retracting the paper, published in the journal Nature, because it would give the international community the impression that the whole project was incorrect. Kazuhiko Murotani, a lawyer who appeared alongside Obokata, went through Riken’s findings in detail and concluded with a call for a review and more investigation of the research.
He said: ‘The investigation was inadequate. It was carried out very quickly. It needs to be redone.’ Announcing its findings, Riken also faulted Obokata’s fellow researchers and senior staff for failing to fully verify the results in the paper. However, it held Obokata solely responsible for fabricating information and other mistakes in the data.
Obokata said she needs access to her computer in the laboratory and to her research notebooks to be able to prove she succeeded in turning cells from spleens of newborn mice into stem cells by exposing them to a more acidic environment than they are used to. If replicated with human cells, the research would mark a huge leap forward in the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, heart disease and stroke. In an emailed statement, company Riken said Obokata had the right to appeal its findings.