By MAURA LERNER and JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY, Minneapolis Star Tribune

The University of Minnesota has concluded that falsified data were used in a 2001 article published by one of its pioneering researchers on adult stem cells.

The stunning admission followed an 18-month investigation into research published by Dr. Catherine Verfaillie, an internationally known stem-cell expert.

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. -- In what officials are calling a "tragic medical error," a surgical team removed the wrong kidney from a patient with kidney cancer, a hospital has disclosed.