Experiments in Japan had hailed earlier this year as a game-changer in the quest to grow transplant tissue, amid claims evidence was faked. These could not be replicated by researchers.

But the struggle to replicate the experiment casts further doubt on the existence of stem cell-like cells, what the researchers called Stimulus-Triggered Acquisition of Pluripotency (STAP) cells, Japan's Nikkei daily reported.
Obokata was feted after unveiling findings that appeared to show a straightforward way to re-programme adult cells to become stem cells -- precursors that are capable of developing into any other cell in the human body.
Identifying a readily manufacturable supply of stem cells could one day help meet a need for transplant tissues, or even whole organs, meaning that any advance in the field is met with excitement in the scientific community.
But after being accused of fabricating results, she agreed to retract papers published in the respected journal Nature.
Earlier this month, Obokata's co-author, stemcell scientist Yoshiki Sasai, hanged himself.
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Riken had planned to implant these cells into mouse embryos to test whether they really were pluripotent.
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Obokata has been trying in tandem to reproduce her own results since July, but the existence of the STAP cells at this point looks highly doubtful, the Nikkei said.
Riken is to release an interim report on the follow-up study and announce a shake-up of the developmental biology centre in a Wednesday news conference, where it is expected to slash its staff of around 400 researchers by half.
Source-AFP