Stem-cell breakthrough questioned as publication errors noted

The study published by Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health & Science University and colleagues in the journal Cell included inaccurate information such as duplicate images of "scatterplot" data and has sparked debate over whether the study received sufficient review before publishing, according to Nature.

However, Mitalipov says the errors don't affect the substance of the study. He says the problem was a simple matter of bad editing, failing to catch errors that stemmed from a colleague's handling of digital images. "It was an honest mistake," he said, adding that the substance of the study remains correct. "We didn't fake it."

The unique stem cell lines the group created are being shared with other researchers and will be easily verified as the real thing, Mitalipov added.

The publisher of Cell agreed, calling them "minor errors" in a comment obtained by the blog Retraction Watch.

The errors have drawn extra attention because of the sensitivity of the study's subject. A South Korean researcher claimed to have cloned stem cells using a similar method nearly a decade ago, but was found to have fabricated the data.

The OHSU study, which focused on providing higher-quality embryonic stem cells for gene therapies of conditions like Parkinson's Disease, has sparked international attention and reignited calls for a U.S. human cloning ban.

Here is the full OHSU statement on the errors:

In response to the issues raised in PubPeer, OHSU has had several discussions with the journal which published the paper, Cell. Based on OHSU's own initial reviews and the original assessments by Cell, OHSU agrees that there were some minor errors made when preparing the figures for initial submission. Neither OHSU nor Cell editors believe these errors impact the scientific findings of the paper in any way. We also do not believe there was any wrongdoing.

OHSU is sending additional information to Cell, including photos and original data. Our shared goal is to publish a correction noting the errors and correcting the photos as soon as both OHSU and Cell feel the issues are fully investigated.

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Stem-cell breakthrough questioned as publication errors noted