“STAP cells do exist!”

Researcher of the Coveted Pluripotency STAP Cells, Ms. Obokata’s Guardian Spirit Revealed Her True Thoughts

Recorded April 8, 2014

 
Ms. Haruko Obokata of Rikagakukenkyusho (Riken) received the spotlight suddenly with the discovery of the new pluripotency cells. However, the image data and research data received criticism and she has been thrust into controversy.
The research unit where she is the leader claims to have discovered STAP cells that are different from other pluripotency cells, which required artificial manipulation within the cells. Their pluripotency cells are revolutionary, and only require being immersed in acid to be produced.
However, Riken, where Obokata is affiliated, had certified the images used as fraudulent, citing “forgery and tampering”. For this reason, not only is the existence of the STAP cells being questioned, but the media is increasingly criticizing Ms. Obokata’s character. This trend may indicate something akin to the old witch-hunts.
Do STAP cells really exist? Master Ryuho Okawa of Happy Science Group called forth the guardian spirit of Ms. Obokata on the day before she is set to give a press conference for her rebuttal, and asked about the truth of her research.

“Spiritual messages” is a phenomenon where the words belonging to spirits from the spiritual realm are channeled down. The ability for it belongs to those with a high level enlightenment, and it is different from a “psychic phenomenon” (the phenomenon where one loses consciousness and enters a trance, and the spirit alone talks). Furthermore, in cases of non-Japanese spirits, it is possible to send spiritual messages by selecting words out of the spiritual medium’s native language, and thus speak in Japanese. For more information→ what is Master Okawa’s super spiritual power, “spiritual messages”?

Reason for Not Leaving Research Data

The guardian spirit of Ms. Obokata appeared perplexed, saying, “I don’t know what all the fuss is about.” She voiced her rebuttal on the matter of the used images in her paper, saying, “I tried to make them easy to understand, but they were not forged,” “I used images from my own research from before, but to be called out on it because they look like the images used in my PhD. thesis paper is ridiculous.”

About the criticisms concerning the small amount of research notes used for recording the research’s process and experimental results, she said that that is because if one carelessly leaves records around, other researchers and superiors might steal away one’s achievements. She said that, “all the records are kept in my head,” and revealed the delicate nature of the research contents and the harshness of the field for researchers.

Against the criticism that other researchers have not been able to “reproduce” the STAP cells, she explained that other necessary parts of the process have yet to be revealed and it is not possible to do it without Ms. Obokata herself.
Furthermore, the guardian spirit of Ms. Obokata stated about the stance on research: “America is constructive, but Japan has a tendency to think negatively.” She lamented the degraded state of scientific research in Japan, where superiors routinely take credit for research done. With the way things are going, it would seem that Ms. Obokata is in a cruel position where she would be forced into, “expulsion by her research group, or suicide.”

The Unnaturalness of the Uproar Surrounding the Thesis Paper

The uproar that has taken place started with a focus on a small error in the paper, and the call for the withdraw of the paper by Professor Teruhiko Wakayama of Yamanashi University.
However, the paper this time was accepted and published by the science journal “Nature,” which is respected worldwide. The responsibility of whether the research result is true or not ultimately belongs to the research leader, Ms. Obokata. Even the peer reviewers utilized by “Nature”, along with their own editorial department, can’t know every nuance of the research without duplicating each test, along with having insight into Ms. Obokata’s mind during the trials. That the coauthor of the paper or the affiliated Riken would seek to verify the validity of the paper is out of the place, when “Nature” had not pointed out the errors.

If by chance, the validity was questioned, then the burden of proof lies solely on the researcher, and the research results are the responsibility of the researcher. If, as in an ordinary company, research is advanced by reporting its progress to superiors and affiliated research labs, checking its validity every step of the way, the independence of the researchers becomes lost.
With this in perspective, it was quite unnatural and strange that forgery and falsification in the paper was ruled, with the researcher herself absent.

As one of the reasons that caused the bashing, the guardian spirit of Ms. Obokata said that, “If there is anyone who can judge if my research is valid or not, then that person would have arrived at the research matter already.” She said in exasperation of the jealousy from senior researchers, “no doubt from their perspective I’m just an upstart who needs to be put in her place.”

The Abandonment of STAP Cells Research Will Prove to Be a National Loss

Currently, the criticisms are centered on the paper, but the existence of the STAP cells itself is being doubted. However, the guardian spirit of Ms. Obokata insists that “STAP cells exist”. This discovery is such that the significance of iPS cells discovered by Professor Shinya Yamanaka, who won the Nobel Prize, would be reduced to nothing, and she said that, “this is within the realm of life made by God.”

Furthermore, in the spiritual messages, she delved into a profound worldview of the structure of the world, and the divine intention at the root of life itself. She rebutted doubts of the existence of the STAP cells only because their production method is simple, saying, “that it is simple means that it is true.” She stated that God’s creation of life, the current existence and evolution of life too works in simple mechanisms.

She stated that the details concerning the STAP cell research will not be disclosed until it can be used to benefit humanity, lest it gets used for unintended purposes, and until then she wants more time to do research, indicating her sincere passion for her research. “Please allow me to keep doing research for at least another year, if possible, 3 years. I don’t mind if I’m judged after that,” she said, calling for more restraint on the part of the media as they heat up their coverage.
At the end of the spiritual messages, when questioned about the past life, she surprised the audience by suggesting that she was a famous scientist from Italy who researched gravity and astronomy.
It was further revealed that her research is being spiritually guided by the father of medicine and genetics.

In a research environment where jealousy between researchers and bashing from the media run rampant, excellent researchers like Ms. Obokata will be discouraged from developing groundbreaking research. If due to this controversy, the fruits of the research of the coveted pluripotency cells end up being prematurely or falsely discredited, the end result might be that this historic discovery will then published by another scientist, most likely outside Japan, resulting in a tremendous scientific loss for the nation.

The guardian spirit of Ms. Obokata pointed out that, “perhaps we lack the confidence to pull the world with us, with an epoch-making discovery made in Japan.” We ought to protect the result of this research for the long-term, and further progress with this research in Japan’s scientific community where it commenced.
The media really ought to stop reporting in a way that incites such jealousy and doubt without sufficient proof, allowing Ms. Obokata’s research to continue. Otherwise, this is not objective journalism, but merely must be regarded as gossip.