Questions are being raised about the data in a major stem cell paper published in 2002 in the journal Nature, the New York Times reported.
An inquiry panel has found that some of the data are "significantly flawed," the newspaper said.
Catherine Verfaillie was the lead author on the article, which claimed stem cells isolated from an adult could change into all the major tissue types of the body.
Verfaillie told the Times she had sent a letter to Nature stating that the flawed data "should not be relied on but that they did not affect the article's conclusions."
She said the journal was resubmitting the article for assessment.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
