Questions arise about stem cell breakthrough

At the end of January, scientists announced a stunning finding: they'd developed a seemingly simple technique that could convert just about any cell to a stem cell using a brief time in acidic conditions. Now, Nature News is reporting that one of the researchers involved is under investigation.

The investigation started with some discussions on blogs and a site called PubPeer, where it was noted that some of the images in the investigators' papers (both the new ones on acid treatments as well as older ones) appear to be duplications. That's what has set off the RIKEN investigation. The images in question are a minor part of the paper as a whole, but they've been sufficient to raise doubts about the quality of the work in the papers.

As far as the validity of the work itself, the message so far is mixed. Nature talked to one of the collaborators who had done tests in mice. That individual pointed out that the cells behave unlike any others we know—they have some distinctive features that aren't the product of any of the previously described methods of producing stem cells.