Scientist in cell research scandal commits suicide
Print Edition
A Japanese researcher at the center of discredited research initially hailed as a potential breakthrough for stem-cell treatment killed himself yesterday after months of stress and exhaustion.
Yoshiki Sasai was the co-author of the high-profile research that had seemed to offer hope for replacing damaged cells or even growing new human organs.
He was found dead at the Riken institute where he worked in Kobe. “It is confirmed as a suicide,” said a police spokesman. “It was a hanging.”
Sasai, 52, had been hospitalized in March for stress and become less receptive to media inquiries during the controversy over the team’s research, Riken spokesman Satoru Kagaya said.
The scientist “had seemed completely exhausted” in their last phone conversation around May or June, Kagaya told a televised news conference.
As deputy director of Riken’s Center for Developmental Biology, Sasai supervised the work of lead author Haruko Obokata, which took the world of molecular biology by storm when it was published in the British journal Nature in January.
It was retracted after months of controversy that made front-page news in Japan and tarnished the country’s reputation for scientific research.
The journal’s editor-in-chief, Phil Campbell, issued a statement in London describing Sasai’s death as a true tragedy for science and an immense loss to the research community.
“Yoshiki Sasai was an exceptional scientist and he has left an extraordinary legacy of pioneering work across many fields within stem cell and developmental biology,” he said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
