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born 1983 is a former Stem cell biologist and research unit leader at Japan's Laboratory for Cellular Reprogramming, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology. She claimed in 2014 to have developed a radical and remarkably easy way to generate stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) cells that could be grown into tissue for use anywhere in the body. In response to allegations of irregularities in Obokata's research publications involving STAP cells, Riken launched an investigation that discovered examples of scientific misconduct on the part of Obokata. Attempts to replicate Obokata's STAP cell results failed. The ensuing STAP cell scandal gained worldwide attention.
According to an Asahi Shimbun news report, Obokata offered to retract her doctoral dissertation following allegations that she plagiarized segments of her dissertation from publicly available documents from the U.S. National Institute of Health website. "STAP cell scientist seeks to withdraw Ph.D. thesis" . The Asahi Shimbun. March 16, 2014. In October 2014, an investigative panel appointed by Waseda University gave Obokata one year to revise her dissertation or lose her degree.Momoko, Suda, "[3] ", "Mainichi Shimbun", 30 October 2015 In 2015, Waseda University announced that it was revoking Obokata's doctoral degree.Murai, Shusuke, " Waseda University strips Obokata of Ph.D.", Japan Times, 3 November 2015, p. 2
In 2014 Riken launched an investigation into the issue, and announced on April 1 that Obokata was guilty of scientific misconduct on two of the six charges initially brought against her. The Riken investigation document reported:
Obokata apologised for her "insufficient efforts, ill-preparedness and unskillfulness", and claimed she had only made "benevolent mistakes"; she denied the charge that she had fabricated results, and denied that she lacked ethics, integrity, and humility. Obokata also reported that her STAP cells existed. The Guardian reported that although Obokata's collaborators initially supported her, "one by one they relented and asked Nature to retract the articles."Rasko, John; Power, Carl; What pushes scientists to lie? The disturbing but familiar story of Haruko Obokata; The Guardian; [6] In June 2014, Obokata agreed to retract both papers.McNeil, David (June 30, 2014) "In Japan, Research Scandal Prompts Questions". Chronicle of Higher Education
Near the time of retraction, "genetic analysis showed that the STAP cells didn’t match the mice from which they supposedly came." Although Obokata claimed not to know how this was possible, "the obvious, and rather depressing, explanation is that her so-called STAP cells were just regular embryonic stem cells that someone had taken from a freezer and relabelled."Rasko, John; Power, Carl; What pushes scientists to lie? The disturbing but familiar story of Haruko Obokata; The Guardian; [8] In July 2014, Obokata participated, with monitoring by a third party, in Riken's effort to experimentally reproduce the original STAP cell findings. Those efforts failed to replicate the results originally reported. "Obokata fails to reproduce 'STAP cell' discovery". The Japan Times. December 18, 2014.
Although cleared of misconduct, Sasai was criticized for inadequate supervision of Obokata, and he described himself as "overwhelmed with shame".Rasko, John; Power, Carl; What pushes scientists to lie? The disturbing but familiar story of Haruko Obokata; The Guardian; [10] After spending a month in hospital, Sasai took his own life on August 5, 2014.Cyranoski, David (August 5, 2014) "Researcher’s death shocks Japan" . Nature News Blog "Japanese stem cell scientist Yoshiki Sasai found dead in apparent suicide", The Independent, 5 August 2014. Accessed 6 August 2014
Obokata resigned from Riken in December 2014.
In a February 2015 article, The Guardian reported that Obokata was guilty of "unbelievable carelessness", having "manipulated images and plagiarised text." Obokata was also described as exhibiting hubris: "If Obokata hadn’t tried to be a world-beater, chances are her sleights of hand would have gone unnoticed and she would still be looking forward to a long and happy career in science. ... By stepping into the limelight, she exposed her work to greater scrutiny than it could bear."Rasko, John; Power, Carl; What pushes scientists to lie? The disturbing but familiar story of Haruko Obokata; The Guardian; [13]
In 2016, Obokata's book Ano hi (あの日- That Day) was published by Kodansha. In her account of the controversy, Obokata relates her association with Wakayama, writing that "crucial parts of the STAP experiments were handled only by Wakayama", that she received the STAP cells from Wakayama, and that Wakayama "changed his accounts of how the STAP cells were produced." Obokata later wrote "I feel a strong sense of responsibility for the STAP papers ..., "I never wrote those papers to deceive anyone," and "STAP was real." Goodyear, Dana; The Stress Test; New Yorker;
A short essay by Obokata appeared in the May 17, 2018, issue of Shukan Bunshun magazine, in which she described herself as "a person who has been hounded".Schreiber, Mark; Disgraced scientist Haruko Obokata back in public eye with photo spread in weekly magazine; Japan Times; [15]
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