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Haruko Obokata, the Japanese stem-cell biologist whose papers caused a sensation earlier this year before being retracted, has not succeeded in an attempt to replicate the controversial experiments, the Japanese media has reported.

The original papers, which Obokata co-authored and published in Nature in January1, 2, claimed to provide a way of producing 'pluripotent' stem cells — cells with the ability to develop into almost any cell type in the body — by a much easier route than used by earlier methods, including a technology that won the 2012 physiology Nobel prize. Obokata's technique involved inducing pluripotency in mouse adult cells by subjecting them to stress, such as physical pressure or exposure to acid. The technique was called stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency, or STAP.

The papers garnered much excitement, but immediately came under attack by social media that noted apparently manipulated images. Investigations by the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, where Obokata works, found that she had committed scientific misconduct, and the papers were retracted

Obokata, however, stood by her results, and the...