A Scientific Scandal

Stem-cell scientist Hwang Woo Suk, whose groundbreaking cloning of human embryos thrust South Korea to the forefront of bioscience research, is fighting for his professional life in a controversy that is degenerating into one of the biggest scientific scandals in years.

Hwang and his team of researchers at Seoul National University stunned the medical community in May when, in a study published in the U.S. journal Science, he reported that he had successfully produced tailor-made stem cells from 11 cloned human embryos—an unprecedented feat. Though controversial, Hwang’s research was hailed as a breakthrough because it appeared to move scientists a step closer to being able to treat a variety of afflictions, from spinal-cord injuries to Alzheimer’s, by using a patient’s own dna to grow perfectly matched tissue to restore defective or damaged organs.

But last week, Hwang’s colleague Roh Sung Il, who collaborated on the groundbreaking study, alleged that Hwang had faked research data so that it appeared more stem-cell lines had been produced than was actually the case. In statements to the media, Roh even questioned whether Hwang had created any stem-cell lines at all. In a nationally televised press conference the next day, Hwang denied the accusations, saying he would retest five remaining frozen stem-cell lines to prove his cloning techniques were authentic—at the same time acknowledging that the other six colonies had been contaminated by a fungus. “One thing is for sure,” said Hwang. “Our team did produce customized stem cells, and we possess the core technology to produce them.” Hwang went on to suggest that “somebody” at Roh’s MizMedi Hospital had tampered with at least five of the stem-cell lines presented in the Science paper. Hwang said he would ask prosecutors to investigate.

Hwang, who this year became the first scientist to clone a dog, was already under fire after being forced to apologize in November for ethical lapses in his work. It was revealed that many of the eggs used to produce human stem cells in his first breakthrough work at the start of 2004 had come from two of his own researchers or from donors who had been paid—both serious breaches of medical ethics. But it seems that Hwang still has one last chance to vindicate himself: by proving that his frozen stem-cell colonies are authentic and that his pioneering cloning techniques actually work.