Recently there has been some controversy over the research into STAP (Stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency) cells. The supposedly breakthrough discovery made by Haruko Obokata and his team was published into the highly established Nature journal. However, after a series of investigations into the results of the experiments carried out by Obokata, it was finally retracted from the journal. The study claimed that bathing adult mouse cells in acid converted them into totipotent stem cells, meaning they have the ability to turn into any type of cell in the body, including cells of the placenta. This essentially means they have the potential to create life. This research, when it was released, was huge news for the medical industry as it provides a great alternative to reprograming genes to create the desirable type of cell. This source of regenerative medicine was a giant leap in the field which is why it raised questions into the accuracy of the results. Concerns were raised as other scientists claimed it was too good to be true which lead to the research team, RIKEN, based in Japan launching an investigation into how the results of the experiments were found. Additionally, scientists around the world started to look into it, for example, Jose Silva, who is a stem cell researcher at the University of Cambridge, attempted to repeat the experiments and was unsuccessful. Numerous others also attempted to peer review the results and were unable to replicate the production of the STAP cells as the full protocol was not published and made publicly available. This raised further questions into the reliability of the ideas that Obokata and his team had proposed. As others continued to peer review the experiment, many flaws were uncovered which led to the research team being scrutinised under the media. After thorough discussion, the papers were retracted from the Nature journal and the authors were forced to admit that their research was not valid and that they had not uncovered a real source of regenerative medicine. The media played a huge part in this controversial story as they, at first, sparked interest in the research which gained the attention of many major science organisations and universities. This led to excitement in the medical field and numerous high profile scientists opted to peer review the research in the hope that these STAP cells could become universally accessible, providing potential for the future. However, having done so, concerns were raised and the media was quick to catch on and very quickly, the papers were being scrutinised and frowned upon. The media generated a lot of pressure and they were particularly harsh to those leading the research team. They acted immorally and began delving into the personal life of the scientists, and in particular, Yoshiki Sasai could no longer deal with the criticism and unfortunately committed suicide. This highlights how the media were wrong in their portrayal of the scientists and pushed boundaries to the extent where they affected the team psychologically. In short, although the peer review process was necessary to analyse the reliability of the experiments involving STAP cells, the media were unethical in their approach to the scandal and blew the issues out of proportion. The retraction of the papers was important as the journal strictly contains scientifically correct research, which does highlight the importance in the peer review process to prove the results wrong. References:
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Ciara Branagan
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October 2016
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