Is it their novelty? Is it their potential profitability? Or is it a Wagnerian doom which hangs over stem cell research? Once again a reputable researcher has allegedly violated ethical standards, run experiments badly and faked documentation in order to publish in a highly ranked journal.

This time Götterdämmerung took place in Austria, not Korea, and with adult stem cells, not embryonic stem cells. The ensuing controversy is in danger of tearing apart the Medical University of Innsbruck. In 2007, a team led by Hannes Strasser published a paper in The Lancet which described its success in cultivating stem cells taken from upper arm muscle and injecting them into women's urinary sphincter muscles to treat urinary incontinence. But an investigation by the government's Agency for Health and Food Safety has issued a report alleging that the urologists neglected to secure proper approvals for the trial, designed the trial poorly, and forged supporting documentation. There is even talk of criminal charges, as several participants in the trial and other patients claim that they have suffered serious side effects, such as sealing of the urinary sphincter and rupture of the bladder.

But it is not only Dr Strasser whose reputation is on the line. The head of the urology department, Georg Bartsch, was a co-author -- only "honorary authorship", he says – although an internal review exonerated him. The furious university rector, Clemens Sorg, wants to discipline Strasser and Bartsch. However, the university council, dismayed over the "the danger of serious economic damage", wants to dismiss Sorg instead. University academics are backing Sorg. Austria's science academy is being sucked into the vortex as well, although it is waiting to see whether Sorg will be impeached. The kettle drums are rolling and on August 21, the council will meet to decide whether to dismiss the rector for enforcing high ethical standards for stem cell research. ~ Nature News, August 14