A high profile article that appeared in Nature in January of this year has been retracted today due to “serious concerns with some of the reported data.” The article, by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Amy Wagers at Harvard Stem Cell Institute and coauthors, had shown that age related defects in adult blood stem cells can be influenced and even reversed by their environment, including exposure to the blood circulation of younger mice.

The paper was highly regarded by scientist members of the faculty of 10000 received some media coverage and has been cited by 13 articles this year according to ISI Web of Science.

In the retraction the authors state that their lack of confidence pertains specifically to the “role of osteopontin-positive niche cells in the rejuvenation of haematopoietic stem cells in aged mice,” but that they chose to retract the paper in its entirety pending further review.

One author on the paper, former postdoc Shane Mayack, did not sign the retraction and maintains that the results are still valid.