Japanese stem cell scientist resigns post after retests fail

In a blow to the prestige of Japan's scientific community, a government-backed research institute accepted the resignation of one of its highest-profile scientists Friday after she failed to replicate research results that were once hailed as a breakthrough in stem cell research. The institute, Riken, had given the researcher, Haruko Obokata, 31, three months to repeat the experiments that were the basis for her claims this year that she had discovered a remarkably simple way to make stem cells, a type of cell that could hold the key to futuristic medical treatments.

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