Yoshiki Sasai

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Yoshiki Sasai (笹井 芳樹, Sasai Yoshiki, 5 March 1962 – 5 August 2014) was a Japanese stem cell biologist. He developed methods to guide human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into forming brain cortex, eyes (optic cups), and other organs in tissue culture. Sasai worked at the Riken Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) in Kobe, and was Director of the Laboratory for Organogenesis and Neurogenesis. Following his involvement in the 2014 STAP cell controversy, Sasai was found dead at Riken from an apparent suicide.

Early life and education

Yoshiki Sasai was born in 1962 in

Sasai was known for developing methods to grow stem cells into organ-like structures.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]} In 2012, Sasai became the first stem cell researcher to grow an optic cup from human cells.^[12]

STAP controversy

In 2014 Sasai was a co-author on two papers published in Nature, shortly thereafter retracted, that described stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency or "STAP" cells.^[13][14][15]

A subsequent investigation by Riken found that Sasai's co-author, Haruko Obokata, had committed scientific misconduct in the STAP cell experiments, and criticized Sasai for inadequate supervision of Obokata.^[16][17][18] In response to the Riken investigation, Sasai described himself as "overwhelmed with shame",^[19] and following a month of hospitalization was found dead from an apparent suicide by hanging on August 5, 2014.^{[20][21][22][23]}

Awards and honours

2010 Osaka Science Prize for his work on in vitro recapitulation of brain development

2012

2013 Hans Sigrist Prize^[24]

See also

• List of scientific misconduct incidents

References