Yoshiki Sasai, who was embroiled in a stem-cell scandal, committed suicide He was found with a rope around his neck at science institute Riken in Japan Mr Sasai, 52, was deputy chief of Riken's Center for Developmental Biology He co-authored stem-cell research papers with falsified contents

By Ted Thornhill

Published: 06:20 EST, 5 August 2014 | Updated: 09:29 EST, 5 August 2014

A senior Japanese scientist embroiled in a stem-cell research scandal died on Tuesday in an apparent suicide, police said.

Yoshiki Sasai, who supervised and co-authored stem-cell research papers that had to be retracted due to falsified contents, was found suffering from cardiac arrest at the government-affiliated science institute Riken in Kobe, in western Japan, according to Hyogo prefectural police.

Sasai, 52, was deputy chief of Riken's Center for Developmental Biology.

Tragic:Yoshiki Sasai, who was embroiled in a stem-cell scandal, committed suicide and was found with a rope around his neck at his place of work

A security guard found him with a rope around his neck, according to Riken. Sasai was rushed to a hospital, but was pronounced dead two hours later.

Police and Riken said Sasai left what appeared to be suicide notes, but refused to disclose their contents.

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Japanese scientist stem-cell scientist Yoshiki Sasai commits suicide