Harvard Stem Cell Researchers Retract Paper in Nature, Citing Flawed Data
Scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute retracted a paper published Jan. 28 in the journal Nature after the lead author, Amy Wagers, became aware of information she said “undermined” her confidence in the data.
The Nature paper, examining the role of blood stem cells in the aging process, was retracted by Wagers, a researcher at the Harvard-affiliated Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, and two of her co-authors. The retraction notice posted by Nature yesterday on its website wasn’t signed by another co-author, Shane Mayack, a former post-doctoral fellow in Wagers’ lab. Mayack left the Joslin center Oct. 1, according to the center’s website.
Another journal, Blood, today posted a “notice of concern” on its website about a 2008 paper by Wagers and Mayack. Wagers had notified the journal about “serious concerns with some of the reported data,” said the statement in Blood.
“Information was brought to my attention that undermined my confidence in the scientific conclusions, and I immediately notified Nature, the Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School,” Wagers said in a statement e-mailed by the stem cell institute.
The Nature paper listed Mayack as the first author and Wagers as the last. According to scientific publishing convention, the first-named author is typically the primary researcher and the last is the supervising senior scientist.
The Nature study found that when old mice are exposed to factors drawn from the blood of young mice, their blood stem cells begin to take on the characteristics of those found in younger mice.
The research appeared to uncover an “aging mechanism” that “could be reversed” by rejuvenating the blood stem cell population of old mice, according to a Joslin center press release issued at the time of the paper’s publication.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Waters in San Francisco at rwaters5@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net.
Rate this Page