15 hours ago by Mari Yamaguchi In this April 16, 2014 photo, Yoshiki Sasai, deputy chief of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo. Police said Sasai, 52, was found Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, at a government science institute RIKEN in Kobe, western Japan. Sasai had supervised and co-authored stem-cell research papers that had to be retracted due to falsified contents. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) A senior Japanese scientist embroiled in a stem-cell research scandal has apparently committed suicide, police said Tuesday. Yoshiki Sasai, who supervised and co-authored stem-cell research papers that had to be retracted due to falsified contents, was found dead Tuesday at the government-affiliated science institute RIKEN in Kobe, in western Japan, according to Hyogo prefectural police. Sasai, 52, was deputy chief of RIKEN's Center for Developmental Biology. A security guard found him suffering from cardiac arrest, with a rope around his neck, according to RIKEN. Sasai was rushed to a hospital, but was pronounced dead two hours later. Police and RIKEN said Sasai left what appeared to be suicide notes, but refused to disclose their contents. RIKEN spokesman Satoru Kagaya told a news conference that Sasai had three letters with him, … Continue reading →

Suspected suicide: Yoshiki Sasai in April. Photo: AFP Tokyo: A renowned Japanese stem cell scientist who co-wrote research that was later retracted in an embarrassing scandal has been found dead, police say. The body of Yoshiki Sasai, 52, was discovered hanging inside the stairwell of a building that houses the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology, one of the country's most prestigious scientific research institutions. The office is in the western city of Kobe. Haruko Obokata, who was mentored by Yoshiki Sasai. Dr Obokata's research on stem cells published in Nature was found to have been falsified. Photo: AP/Kyodo News "Yoshiki Sasai was discovered hanging on Tuesday morning inside one of Riken's research buildings and, after being sent to hospital, he was confirmed dead at 11.03am," a spokesman for the Hyogo Prefectural police said. Advertisement "Police are investigating the case as a suspected suicide." He added that authorities discovered "farewell notes" that Dr Sasai had left behind, with public broadcaster NHK reporting that one was left for Haruko Obokata. Dr Sasai mentored Dr Obokata, whose study earlier this year was hailed as a "game-changer" in the quest to grow transplant tissue in the laboratory. Read the original post: Disgraced Japanese stem … Continue reading →

TOKYO: A renowned Japanese stem cell scientist who co-wrote research that was later retracted in an embarrassing scandal has been found dead of an apparent suicide, police said on Tuesday (Aug 5). The body of Yoshiki Sasai, 52, was discovered hanging inside the stairwell of a building that houses the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology, one of the country's most prestigious scientific research institutions. The office is in the western city of Kobe. "Yoshiki Sasai was discovered hanging on Tuesday morning inside one of Riken's research buildings and, after being sent to hospital, he was confirmed dead at 11:03 am," a spokesman for the Hyogo Prefectural police told AFP. "Police are investigating the case as a suspected suicide." He added that authorities discovered "farewell notes" that Sasai had left behind, with public broadcaster NHK reporting that one was left for Haruko Obokata. Sasai mentored the 30-year-old Obokata, whose study earlier this year was hailed as a "game-changer" in the quest to grow transplant tissue in the lab. But the feted research unravelled amid claims Obokata used fabricated data in her research. Leading science journal Nature said last month it had withdrawn the study after mistakes were discovered in some data … Continue reading →