This year two shocking stories were reported by the media. One was the story of a deaf composer SAMURAGOCHI Mamoru who was even hailed as a “present day Beethoven.” In addition to being hearing impaired, as a second generation atomic bomb victim he released his symphony No. 1 “HIROSHIMA.” As a symphony, the HIROSHIMA CD sold exceptionally well – more than 180,000 copies. However, the nation was shocked when it came out that all the composer’s music had been created by a ghostwriter. Later, it became clear that he could hear, and that his touching story had been faked. The other is the story of a Japanese research team leader, who astonished the world by discovering a way to make pluripotent cells. The cells can be grown into any type of mature tissue, and it’s possible to regenerate lost faculties by using them. Japanese Professor YAMANAKA Shinya became a pioneer by creating iPS cells (induced pluripotent cells) and received the Nobel Prize for this achievement last year. The team led by OBOKATA Haruko has succeeded in producing the cells by employing a simpler method than that used to create iPS cells. It was announced that cells could be reprogrammed by placing them into acidic liquids such as orange juice. She was so young at the age of 30 that she instantly became a heroine for female scientists. However, after it was reported that the British science magazine “Nature” had pointed out that the experiment data report submitted contained artificial images – this developed into a scandal. In addition, it was discovered that she had kept sloppy records of her experiment notes. Those who had submitted the experiment report with her proposed they withdraw the report, and she also agreed. Even after this she insisted that STAP – the name she gave for the cells – do exist, no chemists have yet succeeded in replicating the experiment based on their report. These two incidents delivered a big shock to Japanese, who had been delighted by the appearance of a hero and heroine. (From August issue, 2014 / 2014年8月号より）