One of the most high profile -- and controversial -- papers in the adult stem cell field has been called into further question this month after a university investigation raised concerns about the methods used to identify the cell population. In a 2002 Nature paper Catherine Verfaillie and colleagues reported that cells derived from mouse bone marrow, which they called multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs), seemed able to differentiate into "most, if not all, somatic cell types."
The paper, which triggered international headlines, claimed that multipotent adult progenitor cells could be an ideal source for stem cell therapy. But the results proved difficult to replicate, and scientists have been debating the paper since its release. "It was very controversial because it has been so difficult to pin down what the cells exactly were, and how they were able to differentiate so widely," said Perry Bartlett, Foundation Chair in Molecular Neuroscience ...
