A BIGGGG PHOBIA LIST

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South Korean Stem-Cell Researcher Resigns after faking research data

read at
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051223/ap_on_sc/skorea_stem_cell

By BO-MI LIM, Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean researcher Hwang
Woo-suk resigned from his university on Friday after
the school said he fabricated stem-cell research that
had raised hopes of new cures for hard-to-treat
diseases.
A university panel, releasing initial findings of a
probe, accused Hwang of damaging the scientific
community with his deception, while South Korea's
government rued the scandal surrounding the country's
star scientist and said it may pull its funding for
his research.

"I sincerely apologize to the people for creating a
shock and disappointment," Hwang told reporters as he
was leaving his office at Seoul National University,
considered the country's top institution of higher
learning.

"With an apologetic heart ... I step down as
professor," he said.

However, Hwang still maintained that he had produced
the technology to create patient-matched stem cells as
he claimed in a May article in the journal Science.

"I emphasize that patient-specific stem cells belong
to South Korea and you are going to see this," said
Hwang, a veterinarian.

Earlier Friday, a panel of Seoul National University
experts said Hwang had faked results of at least nine
of 11 stem cell lines he claimed to have created in
the May paper — the first confirmation of allegations
that have cast a shadow over all his purported
breakthroughs in cloning and stem-cell technology.

"This kind of error is a grave act that damages the
foundation of science," the panel said.

The South Korean government, which had strongly
supported Hwang and designated him the country's first
"top scientist," said Friday it was "miserable" over
the reported results of the investigation and will
start its own probe over ethics breaches.

Choi Seong-sik, vice minister of science and
technology, said it's impossible to recover money
already spent for Hwang, a total $39.9 million for
research and facilities since 1998. But his ministry,
which admitted errors in its handling of Hwang's
projects, will look at ending other funding and
withdraw the "top scientist" designation.

Still, the government said it would support other
similar research.

The university panel said Friday it found that "the
laboratory data for 11 stem cell lines that were
reported in the 2005 paper were all data made using
two stem cell lines in total."

To create fake DNA results purporting to show a match,
Hwang's team split cells from one patient into two
test tubes for the analysis — rather than actually
match cloned cells to a patient's original cells, the
university said.

"Based on these facts, the data in the 2005 Science
paper cannot be some error from a simple mistake, but
can only be seen as a deliberate fabrication to make
it look like 11 stem-cell lines using results from
just two," the panel said.

"There is no way but that Professor Hwang has been
involved," the university's dean of research affairs,
Roe Jung-hye told a news conference. Hwang "somewhat
admits to this," he added.

The panel said DNA tests expected to be completed
within a few days would confirm whether the remaining
two stem-cell lines it had found were actually
successfully cloned from a patient. The earlier claims
of patient-matched stem cells were seen by scientists
worldwide as a key step to creating tailored therapies
for hard-to-treat diseases, such as paralysis or
diabetes.

In light of the revelations, the panel said it would
now also investigate Hwang's other landmark papers —
which include another Science article in 2004 on the
world's first cloned human embryos, and an August 2005
paper in the journal Nature on the first-ever cloned
dog — an Afghan hound named Snuppy. The journals
already are reviewing all the work.

Professor Alan Trounson, a top stem-cell researcher at
Australia's Monash University, said the scandal showed
scientists were rigorously checking one another's
results. But he predicted the fallout would also stain
any other scientists linked to Hwang's work, also
saying that the South Korean's claim to have cloned a
dog was "very much in doubt now."

"I think a lot of the community were very impressed
with the cloning of a dog — and it was a delightful
dog — but I actually don't think it is a cloned dog
now," Trounson told The Associated Press in a
telephone interview.

Hwang has already asked Science to withdraw the May
paper, citing "fatal errors," claiming he had created
only some of the 11 stem-cell colonies at the time of
publication but completed the work later.

The university panel said Friday that it found no
records of two of the other stem-cell lines Hwang
claims to have created. Four others died from
contamination, and another three were in the nurturing
stage and hadn't yet become full stem-cell lines.

Hwang's article this year had also been viewed as
significant for his efficiency in cloning the
stem-cell lines, claiming to use just 185 human eggs
to create custom-made embryonic stem cells for the 11
patients.

But Roe said the investigation had "found that there
have been a lot more eggs used than were reported" and
were investigating the exact number.

The main opposition Grand National Party called for a
parliamentary investigation of the government for
failing to find errors in Hwang's research sooner.
Party spokesman Lee Ke-jin accused the president's
office of being "greatly responsible for neglecting
the situation when it knew everything."

Prosecutors said they would decide whether to
investigate Hwang after the university finishes its
probe. The Seoul District Prosecutor's Office said
Hwang's fabrication is not subject to criminal
charges.

Hwang had last month resigned as head of the World
Stem Cell Hub — an international project founded in
October that had planned to open centers in Britain
and the United States — after admitting he used eggs
from female workers at his lab in violation of ethics
guidelines. Sung Sang-cheol, head of Seoul National
University Hospital where the hub is located, said
Friday the center would continue working but might be
reorganized or renamed.

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