Disgraced Japan stem cell scientist commits suicide

A renowned Japanese stem cell scientist who co-wrote research that was later retracted in an embarrassing scandal has been found dead in an apparent suicide, police and officials said Tuesday, August 5. Yoshiki Sasai, 52, was discovered hanging inside the stairwell of the Riken Center for Developmental Biology, one of the country’s most prestigious scientific research institutions. Sasai apparently committed suicide after writing farewell notes. One of the notes was for his ward, 30-year-old Obokata, who unveiled a study on transplant tissue that was hailed as a “game-changer” but who later retracted the same study on claims of false data. Obokata later admitted mistakes in the study were made but insisted the results were still valid.

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