The scientific community today expressed regrets over the untimely demise of their Japanese colleague.
Professor Yoshiki Sasai, widely recognized for his contributions on transforming stem cells to other cell types, was found unconscious in his workplace and later pronounced dead, the police said. Authorities cited suicide being the cause of Sasai's death.
Sasai worked as a deputy director of RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan.
Sasai, along with principal author Haruko Obokata, supervised and co-authored a breakthrough study in the field of stem cell research. The study was published in the prestigious journal Nature early January of this year.
The study claimed to have figured out a revolutionary solution to creating stem cells that can be used to regenerate other essential organs. This, the study noted, is achieved by transforming mature cells back to an embryonic-like stage thereby enabling them to grow into different types of cells.
Published earlier this year, the study widely received criticisms from the scientific community. Other scientists were concerned over the fact that when replicated, the method cannot achieve the desired objectives.
RIKEN, for its part, conducted detailed inquiries on the matter and discovered Obokata was in fact guilty of fabricating portions of the research paper.
Wall Street Journal reported that Sasai recognized his lapses in overseeing the study process citing that he was tapped into the study at later stage. Sasai, however, stood firm in his beliefs that the study showed evidence of a promising breakthrough.
Nature eventually retracted the paper due to data inaccuracies and unsubstantiated conclusions. Japanese media reported that the controversy gravely affected Sasai that he sought counseling and medical treatments last April.
Prior to committing suicide, Sasai is said to have left notes addressed to senior executives at RIKEN research. The RIKEN spokesperson refused to disclose the contents of the suicide notes.
