Cloning expert is alleged to have faked stem cell data
science correspondent
The world's leading cloning expert was embroiled in an investigation yesterday amid
allegations that he faked research that propelled him to the forefront of the
field. Woo-Suk Hwang of Seoul National University
became the first scientist to clone a human embryo last year and broke new
ground again in June when he reported creating bespoke stem cells for patients
with a variety of medical conditions, in research published in the US journal
Science.
Dr Hwang recently resigned as director of the WorldStem Cell hub in Seoulafter
admitting that human eggs used in his earlier work were donated by
womenin his research team, although he claimed the eggs were given
without his knowledge.The controversy surrounding Dr Hwang deepened
yesterday when a collaboratorclaimed in a television interview that the
scientist had admitted most of thestem cells produced for the Science
paper were faked. Those stem cellsimpressed other scientists because
they could potentially be used to regrowdamaged tissue in the patients
they were created for. Roh Sung-il, chairman ofthe board at Mizmedi
hospital and a co-author of the latest Science paper, toldMBC
television that nine of the embryonic stem cell lines Dr Hwang claimed
inthe paper were cloned were faked, and the authenticity of two others
was unknown.He added that Dr Hwang had pressured a former scientist at
the lab to falsify datato make it seem there were 11 stem cell colonies
and that he heard from DrHwang on Thursday morning that "there were no
embryonic stem cells"because all colonies have since died in the lab. University of Pittsburghresearcher
Gerald Schatten has already asked Science to remove him as thesenior
author of the report, citing questions about the paper's accuracy. In
aletter to the journal seen by the Guardian, he said he had urged the
otherauthors to retract the report. The university has begun an
investigation intothe paper but a spokeswoman was unable to confirm
when it would announce itsconclusions. Dr Hwang's team has admitted it
made an error that led toduplicated photos accompanying the article,
but editors of Science have so farstood by the paper's findings. A
spokesman for Science said the editors had notreceived any request toretract
the paper from Dr Hwang and they would waituntil heUniversity of
Pittsburg hinvestigation
had been completed before taking action. "We've requestedclarification
from Dr Hwang on all of the allegations, but as far as I know wehave
not received any response. SeoulNational Universityalso announced this
week it would conduct an internal inquiry into Dr Hwang'sresearch.
.South Korea'spresident,
Roh Moo-hyun, called for caution regarding the reports on Dr
Hwang'swork. "Let's watch the situation," a spokesperson said.
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