A case study on copying a part of another person's paper to your own paper without mentioning the source

Here's a quote from the paper: Stimulus-triggered fate conversion of somatic cells into pluripotency Nature 505,641–647 (30 January 2014) http://ift.tt/1mX7oox

Karyotype analysis

Karyotype analysis was performed by Multicolor FISH analysis (M-FISH). Subconfluent STAP stem cells were arrested in metaphase by colcemid (final concentration 0.270 µg ml−1) to the culture medium for 2.5 h at 37 °C in 5% CO2. Cells were washed with PBS, treated with trypsin and EDTA (EDTA), re-suspended into cell medium and centrifuged for 5 min at 1,200 r.p.m. To the cell pellet in 3 ml of PBS, 7 ml of a pre-warmed hypotonic 0.0375 M KC1 solution was added. Cells were incubated for 20 min at 37 °C. Cells were centrifuged for 5 min at 1,200 r.p.m. and the pellet was re-suspended in 3–5 ml of 0.0375 M KC1 solution. The cells were fixed with methanol/acetic acid (3:1; vol/vol) by gently pipetting. Fixation was performed four times before spreading the cells on glass slides. For the FISH procedure, mouse chromosome-specific painting probes were combinatorially labelled using seven different fluorochromes and hybridized as previously described41. For each cell line, 9–15 metaphase spreads were acquired by using a Leica DM RXA RF8 epifluorescence microscope (Leica Mikrosysteme GmbH) equipped with a Sensys CCD camera (Photometrics). Camera and microscope were controlled by the Leica Q-FISH software (Leica Microsystems). Metaphase spreads were processed on the basis of the Leica MCK software and presented as multicolour karyograms.

Here's a quote from the paper: Multicolor karyotype analyses of mouse embryonic stem cells In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim. 2005 Sep-Oct;41(8-9):278-83. http://ift.tt/1CkuIsN

Materials and Methods

Chromosome preparation

Metaphase spreads of the ES cells were performed as follows. Subconfluent ES cells were arrested in metaphase by adding colcemid (final concentration 0.270 μg/ml) to the culture medium for 2.5 h at 37° C in 5% CO2. Cells were washed with PBS, treated with trypsin-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), resuspended into cell medium and centrifuged for 5 min at 1200 rpm. To the cell pellet in 3 ml of PBS, 7 ml of a prewarmed hypotonic 0.0375 M KCl solution was added. Cells were incubated for 20 min at 37° C. Cells were centrifuged for 5 min at 1200 rpm and the pellet was resuspended in 3–5 ml of 0.0375 M KCl solution. The cells were fixed with methanol/acetic acid (3:1, vol:vol) by gently pipetting. Fixation was performed four times prior to spreading the cells on glass slides.

Multicolor FISH analysis (M-FISH)

For M-FISH analysis mouse chromosome–specific painting probes were combinatorially labeled using seven different fluorochromes and hybridized as previously described (Jentsch et al., 2003). For each cell line 9–15 metaphase spreads were acquired by using a Leica DM RXA RF8 epifluorescence microscope (Leica Mikrosysteme GmbH, Bensheim, Germany) equipped with a Sensys CCD camera (Photometrics, Tucson, AZ). Camera and microscope were controlled by the Leica Q-FISH software (Leica Microsystems Imaging solutions, Cambridge, United Kingdom). Metaphase spreads were processed on the basis of the Leica MCK software and presented as multicolor karyograms.

The author of the former paper H. Obokata was highly criticized for copying the quoted part in her paper without mentioning the source as if she had committed academic plagiarism. She was fired for making up the paper. Is the criticism appropriate?