Scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have retracted a paper published in the journal Nature in January 2010. This follows the lead author, Amy Wagers, obtaining information that 'undermined' her confidence in the data. Wagers is a researcher at the Harvard-affiliated Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.
The Nature paper, which examined the role of blood stem cells in the aging process, was retracted by Wagers and two of her co-authors. The retraction notice was posted by the journal on its website. Shane Mayack, one of the authors on the paper, did not sign the retraction and maintains that the results are still valid. The Nature paper listed Mayack as the first author and Wagers as the last. According to scientific publishing convention, the first-named author is typically the primary researcher and the last is the supervising senior scientist.
In a related announcement, another journal, Blood, posted a 'notice of concern' on its website about a 2008 paper by Wagers and Mayack. Wagers had then notified the journal about 'serious concerns with some of the reported data'.
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