The full name of STAP cells is "stimulation triggers pluripotency" cells. These cells belong to totipotent cells. According to the team of Haruko Kobao, the first Japanese team to claim to have discovered STAP cells, STAP cells can obtain totipotency only by simple external stimulation, rather than complicated physical and chemical means, that is, they can be further differentiated into any other type of cells genetically.
The specific way to extract STAP cells is to apply a "sublethal dose" external stimulus to mammalian somatic cells, such as soaking them in weak acid and then squeezing them to reprogram them into pluripotent cells. This method is relatively simple compared with the previous iPS method (introducing specific genes or specific gene products). However, it is still difficult to control the dosage of weak acid to make cells pluripotent without losing their vitality.
Shortly after Bao Fang Haruko's paper was published, some outside experts pointed out that the images in the paper were unnatural and suspected to have been processed. Some foreign colleagues repeated the experiment with the method introduced in the paper, but they could not reproduce the results. Subsequently, Japanese media reported on June 3, 20 14 that the cells used in STAP experiment were tested for genes, and the results showed that they did not exist. This result was finally confirmed by Japan Institute of Physical Chemistry. The institute held a press conference and announced the experimental results of STAP cells: in the verification experiment to verify the existence of STAP cells, Haruko Bao Fang Jr. failed to make such cells, and the experiment ended. Bao Fang Haruko herself did not attend the press conference, and a letter of resignation she wrote was made public at the meeting.
This incident is currently characterized as academic fraud, which has sounded the alarm for life science practitioners who ignore research standards.