Stem cell scandal, Japanese scientist resigns

Haruko Obokata, a Japanese scientist on December 19, resigned after studying stem cells that had been hailed as her "breakthrough" was supposed to be fake.

Earlier, Ms. Obokata announced her work in the prestigious journal Nature, saying stem cells could be made faster and cheaper.

The Riken Research Institute then tried to repeat her results, but failed, raising doubts that she had faked her research.

After suspicions of fraud in stem cell research, Haruko Obokata announced her resignation - (Photo: Reuters).

Mrs. Obokata was later charged with misconduct. The article about her research was also withdrawn from Nature.

On December 19, Ms. Obokata announced her resignation. However, she did not admit fraud in research, instead she said: "I have worked hard for three months to get this remarkable result, but now I'm too tired and extremely confused . . ".

"I take responsibility for troubling some people because of my inexperience. I can't even find words to apologize , " she added.

According to the BBC, Riken Research Institute has approved her resignation.

She was not the first scientist involved in stem cell scandal.

In 2006, Mr. Hwang Woo Suk, a famous Korean stem cell scientist, was forced to resign after being found faking a stem cell research. He was also sentenced to imprisonment for embezzling and buying illegal eggs.

Stem cells can become any kind of tissue in the human body and have great potential in medicine. They have been studied to treat heart attack damage and help restore vision.

However, the creation of them is very costly and has a moral problem because the main source of stem cell production is human embryos.