Japanese stem cell scientist Yoshiki Sasai found dead in apparent suicide - Polidicks

[img]http://www.straitstimes.com/sites/straitstimes.com/files/imagecache/ST_REVAMP_2014_STORY_PAGE_640X360/20140805/jm-sasai05e.jpg[/img] [quote] A leading stem cell researcher in Japan has been found dead at his laboratory in an apparent suicide after months of pressure over a controversial study that had to be retracted because of scientific errors. Yoshiki Sasai, 52, was discovered by a security guard on Tuesday morning at the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology in Kobe where he was deputy director. Suicide notes were found at the scene and on his secretary’s desk, it was reported. Dr Sasai was the supervisor of Haruko Obokata, the lead author of the stem cell papers published in the journal Nature earlier this year in which it was claimed that blood cells can be converted into embryonic-like cells by simply exposing them to a weak solution of acid. In a subsequent investigation by Riken, Dr Obakata was accused of scientific misconduct and although Dr Sasai was cleared of any direct involvement, he was harshly criticised for failing to provide oversight during the drafting of the now discredited research papers. Ryoji Novori, the president of Riken, said in a brief statement: “The world scientific community has lost an irreplaceable scientist.”[/quote] [url]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/japanese-stem-cell-scientist-yoshiki-sasai-found-dead-in-apparent-suicide-9650050.html[/url] RIP.

this sounds like something out of a movie. "Apparent" suicide. Guy was a leading scientist. Suicide notes found on his desk. Like, why would a guy who was doing all this research just commit suicide? It doesn't make sense to me.

[QUOTE=Covalent;45620609]this sounds like something out of a movie. "Apparent" suicide. Guy was a leading scientist. Suicide notes found on his desk. Like, why would a guy who was doing all this research just commit suicide? It doesn't make sense to me.[/QUOTE] Could be a case of karoshi Could also be honor-related. He was thought to be involved in some scandal, and although he was cleared of any involvement later on, it might have pushed him over the edge.

[QUOTE=Covalent;45620609]this sounds like something out of a movie. "Apparent" suicide. Guy was a leading scientist. Suicide notes found on his desk. Like, why would a guy who was doing all this research just commit suicide? It doesn't make sense to me.[/QUOTE] The explanation is pretty clear from even just the thread's snippet. He oversaw and greenlighted scientific papers in his field that were discredited, and was heavily criticized for it. Imagine if at the top your whole life's work, the thing you alone are best at, you are suddenly taken to be a reckless huckster who has no idea what he's doing by all of your peers.

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doubt he suicided. A scientist has a set of attitudes towards his work, and if he found his work had errors he would strive to improve his work and prove everyone else wrong... not just suicide gg. Just sounds fucking dumb I mean come on do they think we are all stupid or something? I'm pretty sure this guy had a goal in life to improve humanity's collective knowledge on stem cell research, and someone with a goal like that doesn't just give up

[QUOTE=Covalent;45620609]this sounds like something out of a movie. "Apparent" suicide. Guy was a leading scientist. Suicide notes found on his desk. Like, why would a guy who was doing all this research just commit suicide? It doesn't make sense to me.[/QUOTE] I know that in Korea there can be a large culture of shame if you fuck up. I know the two countries aren't the same but maybe they share a similarity on that? I mean samurai used to have to commit seppuku for basically nothing sometimes.

[QUOTE=Antlerp;45620659]doubt he suicided. A scientist has a set of attitudes towards his work, and if he found his work had errors he would strive to improve his work and prove everyone else wrong... not just suicide gg. Just sounds fucking dumb I mean come on do they think we are all stupid or something?[/QUOTE] Don't forget that he's Japanese. In Japan, it's still VERY common to commit suicide when you feel you've done something dishonorable.

Enough stress in a person's life can drive previously well-balanced people to suicide. [url]http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTCS_82.htm[/url] - The Holmes and Rahe scale is very useful for figuring out how much stress is there in a person's life due to what events he's gone through. [editline]7th August 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=l337k1ll4;45620677]Don't forget that he's Japanese. In Japan, it's still VERY common to commit suicide when you feel you've done something dishonorable.[/QUOTE] also this