Japans Riken center apologized for errors in a pair of studies that had outlined a simpler, quicker way of making stem cells and said the institute is considering urging the scientists to retract it.

Riken will impose a penalty if misconduct is proven, President Ryoji Noyori said in news conference today. Haruko Obokata, who led the research, and two other Riken researchers in a separate statement on the centers website said they are in talks with co-writers to discuss a retraction.

Government-funded Riken on March 11 said is investigating the two studies that were published in journal Nature in January and said ordinary cells taken from newborn mice could be transformed into stem cells without adding genes. The institute today said it was investigating six images and methods in the research after claims that they looked unnatural or were plagiarized from other studies.

We are communicating with other authors and considering the possibility of retracting the studies, Obokata and the two other researchers, Yoshiki Sasai and Hitoshi Niwa, said in a joint statement on Rikens website today.

Two areas were handled inappropriately, though researchers didnt have intent to falsify data, the institute said on its website. The center is still investigating the rest, it said.

Images used in the studies to show the establishment of the method resemble photos from Obokatas previous studies, Kyodo News reported this week. Another scientist, Teruhiko Wakayama at the University of Yamanashi in Japan who worked on the research said he was no longer sure of the premise of the data he used to establish the experiments and that the studies should be withdrawn for review, public broadcaster NHK reported on March 10.

The probe is a setback for Japan as it tries to push into stem-cell science following Shinya Yamanakas 2012 Nobel Prize. Japan aims to cement its leadership in the field of research, and has pushed through bills that fast-track regulatory approval for cell-based products.

Researchers led by Obokata at the Riken Center for Developmental Biology shocked the cells with a dose of sublethal stress such as mechanical force to trigger a transformation. Obokata worked with institutions including Charles Vacantis laboratory at Brigham and Womens Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

In an embryos early stages, stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can become any type of tissue in the body. As the embryo develops, the cells begin to specialize, or differentiate, into units for the bodys different structures.

There are several ways to regenerate pluripotent stem cells, including one that uses embryos and one that reprograms matured cells by inserting genes. Last year, Japans Health Ministry cleared the way for the worlds first clinical trial with stem cells made using a separate technique established by Yamanaka, the Nobel Prize winner from Kyoto University.

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Riken Apologizes for Errors in Two Stem Cell Studies