Stem cell papers retracted as Korean scientific circles suffer fresh setback


Seoul National University said on Tuesday it will investigate four stem cell research papers authored by its professors after they were retracted from an international journal earlier this month on suspicion of fabrication and incorrect data.

The university will form an investigative body to verify the authenticity of data in the papers written by Professor Kang Soo-kyung and others, SNU dean of research Lee Joon-sik said in a news conference. The papers were written in the publication Antioxidant & Redox Signaling.

“A committee of nine field experts will be established to verify the controversial claims that parts of the data have been fabricated,” he said.

“Since Kang claims some errors to be simple mistakes we will also discern whether there has been an intentional distortion of data. It will not be easy and we will have to do some re-examination,” he added.

The suspicion was raised by a whistleblower, who sent a 70-page report to the editors of 10 international journals that published 14 research papers by Kang, who participated as either a main or corresponding author in each.

The report argues that Kang’s research contained incorrect data such as floating error bars, bloated measurements and pasted-together lanes in PCR gels and RNA and CHIP blots. In some parts, the same control blot data is used across different experiments and in different papers, the report claimed. The first two were retracted on May 9 and the others were cancelled from registration on May 17.

The senior editor of ARS journal notified Kang as well as her school, and decided to retract the papers, while at the same time launching an investigation into the case. The Korean Society for Stem Cell Research said it has also begun verifying the data.

“We want to make sure as few researchers are victimized in this as possible,” ARS editor-in-chief Chandon K. Sen was quoted as saying in online watchdog journal, Retraction Watch. “A forthcoming editorial in ARS will explain why two other published papers will be retracted, along with why another manuscript under peer review will be withdrawn.”

Kang, one of the leading researchers in the field, has reportedly admitted to a “lack of adequate oversight” and sought retraction from two of the papers, but insisted on redoing experiments to improve the data quality of the other two, the journal said.

If the manipulation is verified as intentional, the nation’s scientific circles are expected to face another hurdle following the stem cell research fabrications of Hwang Woo-suk in 2005.

If so, stem cell research may be bogged down further after the whirlwind scandal of disgraced veterinarian Hwang, who fabricated data for historical findings in cloning embryonic stem cells, field insiders say. “Stem cell research has fallen behind ever since the Hwang scandal triggered international criticism. If we are hit by more fraud, the country will continue to lag behind,” a professor at a technology university said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)