What’s the world coming to when you have to take every scientific breakthrough with a pinch of salt… or squeeze of lemon!
In 2014, Japanese scientist Haruko Obokata excitedly announced that she and her colleagues had discovered a startlingly simple way of equipping once ordinary body cells with the superpower known as ‘pluripotency’.
By soaking mouse blood cells in a weak bath of citric acid for half an hour, Obokata had miraculously transformed them into embryonic stem cells, with the potential to grow into any cell type in the body. Creating the building blocks of regenerative medicine, it seemed, could be as, well, easy as easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Really? Having learned its lesson – perhaps from previous too good to be true ‘discoveries’ – the scientific community said hold on a sec, do you mind if we check?
On April 1st, aptly enough, an investigation found Obokata guilty of scientific misconduct. Her data had been fabricated and the original cells, which genetic analysis proved didn’t come from the said mice, were actually embryonic stem cells all along. Obokata’s reputation hadn’t been so much tarnished as sliced and diced.
Over-claiming in the R&D tax credit arena may not cost you your career, but it might invite an HMRC enquiry or future request for return payments, along with interest and penalties. That’s why Jumpstart substantiates every penny of every claim. No lemons here!
