As always, in addition to the scientific breakthroughs that make headlines throughout the year, there is also a dark side to science. From misconduct to human error, there is always the possibility for something to go wrong. This year saw the announcement and retraction of a new method of cellular reprogramming; a lawsuit against users of an anonymous post-publication peer review website; and multiple biosecurity breakdowns at federal facilities.
HARUKO OBOKATAThis January, Haruko Obokata of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, along with her colleagues published two papers in Nature that described pluripotent stem cells that had been derived simply by applying a physical stressor to adult cells. Known as stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency, or STAP, the findings attracted the attention of the scientific community and media. But it didn’t take long for some researchers to raise questions.
Scientist bloggers led the way, posting the results of their attempts to replicate the study in real time. Users of the post-publication peer review website PubPeer also raised concerns. By February, RIKEN had launched its own investigation, which led to a finding of scientific misconduct against Obokata. In July, Nature retracted both papers. ...
