Munich

A stem-cell paper published last month in an online physics journal has created quite a stir. The paper, which was described as a “breakthrough” in adult stem-cell technology at a public announcement in Germany, is scientifically premature, experts say, and may lead to a surge in protests against research using embryonic lines.

In the current issue of Applied Physics A (doi:10.1007/s00339-004-2816-6; 2004) — an online journal published by Springer that normally reports materials-science research — a team of German biologists describes a technique for isolating stem cells from the pancreas of adult humans and rats. In culture, the cells differentiated into multiple cell lineages, such as brain and muscle cells, the team reports. If confirmed, the discovery would allow researchers often to use stem cells from adults instead of from embryos — a particularly controversial source in Germany.

At a press conference in Berlin on 28 May, politicians of the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats referred to the study as “groundbreaking”. Wolfgang Wodarg, health spokesman for the Social Democrats, said it was a blow to supporters of research involving human embryonic stem cells.

But leading stem-cell researchers rebuked the team and its host institutions — the University of Lübeck and the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering (IBMT) in St Ingbert — for publishing premature results. They point out that the paper was accepted one day after it was submitted, without full peer review. The paper provides little evidence for many of its claims, says Hans Schöler, a stem-cell researcher at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Michael Stuke, editor-in-chief of Applied Physics A, says he took the advice of several experts before deciding to publish. “If I think that a topic is really hot and needs to be disseminated without the delay typical for major journals, I won't hesitate to invite biologists to publish in our journal,” he says.

Publishing the data in an unreviewed physics journal was a “less-than-ideal solution”, admits Günter Fuhr, director of the IBMT, who supervised the study. But he backs their decision to inform the public of their results at an early stage. Requests from Nature to interview the lead author of the paper, Charli Kruse of the University of Lübeck, were deferred to Fuhr.

Others say the paper's high profile will strengthen opposition to embryonic stem-cell research. “I am concerned that the whole field might suffer if news about alleged breakthroughs is spread in this way,” says Oliver Brüstle, head of reconstructive neurobiology at the University of Bonn.