Haruko Obokata reportedtly has written a book that is somewhat of a memoir of her life including the STAP cell scandal.
The exact nature of the book remains mostly a mystery at this point.
It should be out on the 2nd anniversary of the STAP cell papers being published.
Kyodo News gives some more details now:
“The 253-page book, titled “Anohi” (That Day), will hit the bookstore shelves Thursday. It will be the first time she has offered a lengthy explanation on the issue of “STAP cells,” which she claimed to have made, after quitting the state-backed Riken research institute in December 2014, according to the publisher.”
If you want to learn more about Obokata and the STAP cell fiasco, there are many posts archived from this blog here.
Will there be any new revelations about STAP?
Will we learn anything about her training as a postdoc with Charles Vacanti?
What are her future plans?
You can see an image of the book cover from Kyodo News at left. It seems very minimal, which is of course quite different than the splashy STAP papers, press release, and news stories from the past.
If you read the book or have further insights on it please share them here.
Currently the #1 book on amazon.co.jp
http://www.amazon.co.jp/ebook/dp/B01B40BMLK
I don’t even know what to say…
@admin
He played little role in the latter half and was not included in the acknowledgments where Dr. Sasai, Dr. Niwa, Dr. Aizawa, lawyers and even internet non-scientist supporters were mentioned.
In the book he refused to retract papers the most strongly and she claims it caused the delay of retraction.
I read the latter half of the book. Tons of excuses without few scientific description. As Shinkansen told, she tried to owe all faults to Dr. Wakayama even if he has been absent at the place misconducts happened.
I think many non-Japanese researchers do not feel good about the situation of Japanese media discussing about this topic like scandals of movie stars, but this seems to be caused by her attitude, blaming others (with a lawyer) and providing few or no scientific evidences.
@tangsten,
Was Vacanti mentioned at all?
He seemed to play an important central role in the STAP project overall and was her mentor too.
Dr. Knoepfler,
Will do! At least preliminarily, though, it looks like she is blaming Wakayama for doing the critical experiments and also saying that she was framed for switching the ES cells (and that she got the cells from him). I wonder what the chances would be that all of that would actually happen, though. It also doesn’t explain her misrepresenting the unrelated differentiation pics from her thesis or the fact that in the end, she (and everyone else) couldn’t replicate the findings. Maybe this is retaliation for Wakayama initially blowing the whistle and calling for the papers to be retracted?
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/01/27/national/obokata-breaks-silence-suggests-colleague-bears-blame-for-stap-debacle/#.Vql7L_krIh4
First the book, then the movie?
I hope that she can finally tell the truth and take responsibility for what she did, but I think it will just likely amount to more excuses and denials. I really hope that she does not still try to claim that her method works. My friends who trained in the Sasai lab are really offended that she is still seeking attention, but I would wait to see what the book actually says before judging.
Hi Shinsakan,
If you know of someone who gets a copy of the book, I’d be interested in posting a review of it or translated excerpts.
Thanks,
Paul