"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 following, when taken together, are richly ironic:

1) Professor Hwang's research, albeit fake, concerns cloning of stem cells, some of which are the fusion of sperm cells and eggs, i.e. roe

2) Professor Hwang is apparently fired by his university's dean of research affairs, one Roe Jung-hye

3) The news comes within a few days of the celebration of Christmas, the birth of Jesus, a birth which was the result of an immaculate conception.

4) Appearing on Drudge just above the this story today is a headline proclaiming: (Supreme Court nominee Samuel) "Alito Said Roe v. Wade Ruling Should Be Overturned"

As we have come to expect, the blogosphere is covering several aspects of the story. Here's a brief round-up:

Gina Smith's Stem Cell Watch reprints an article from the International Herald Tribune in a post entitled "Intentional Fabrication?".

TMH's Bacon Bit's notes the irony, as well:

Is it just me, or is it quite ironic that, so close to the eve of our celebration of the virgin birth of Jesus the Christ, scientists coveting similar godlike creation power would fall so far from grace?

Scrappleface has a humorous take: "Korean Stem-Cell Study Promises Cure for Lying"

ProLifeBlogs asks an important question: I'd like to know to what extent Hwang's work was used within the United States to motivate legislation supportive of embryonic stem cell research. ... While Korean officials are now complaining about some $40 million in research funding that has apparently been wasted, consider the billions of U.S. dollars that were allocated because politicians voted "yes", at least in part, due to the "promise" of Hwang's work.

Wesley J. Smith of SecondHand Smoke has a series of posts on the scandal. Check out "The End of the Cult of Hwang" , "Some Truth Telling in NATURE" , and "MSM Downplaying Hwang Scandal".

The Road Less Traveled examines the "extreme effect this scandal has had on the South Korean public." Why this would be the case there and not in the US is because in South Korea Hwang has, for some years now, been "treated like a rock star, complete with a fan web site called ":

Apparently Hwang is both telegenic and gives good sound bites during interviews. His life story has the appeal of a rise to stardom from humble beginnings, having had to overcome the bias of MDs towards veterinarians along the way.

Chris Myrick of AsiaPundit has been following the action closely as well. In a post entitled "hwang woo-suk deathwatch" Chris wonders whether Hwang Woo-suk may avail himself of the suicide option or "follow in the Anglo-American footsteps of Nick Leeson or Michael Brown and start a consulting business on bio-ethics. For what it's worth, I feel compelled to remark that Myrick's willingness to take bets on the time and place of a Hwang suicide are quite beyond the pale."

Marmot has been following the scandal even more closely and is now on his 12th Update.

The Bioethics Blog sees implications for stem cell funding both in the US and abroad and rails against the current system for funding such research:

The key questions in the public discussion of the Korean matter seem likely to involve a billion versions of: "Will ethical lapses in this lab damage stem cell research elsewhere?"

Answer: yes. And no amount of late-in-the-day standards creation will change that. People are going to ask whether the mechanisms whereby stem cell money is doled out have to be made much more rigorous. And yet again, the U.S. government will be zero help, since our rule for how to fund stem cell research is based on the altogether stupid idea that some tiny collection of embryonic stem cells in Wisconsin are ok in terms of ethics and money, but anything made after August 9, 2001 is evil and not to be funded.

It is a policy that makes our tax code look brilliant by comparison, and it illustrates just how dangerous the present regulatory environment really is.

Meanwhile the two major Korean Stock Exhcanges -the KOSPI and the tech-laden KOSDAQ- and several Korean biotechs have taken a hit because of the still-unfolding scandal. The Korea Times reports on Dec 22nd that:

The controversy over the authenticity of embattled cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk’s latest embryonic stem cell research is casting a cloud over plans by bioengineering firms to issue new shares. Local bio venture startups are concerned over the stem cell cloning row that may put a damper on their efforts to raise additional funds required for further research activities. Already weighed down by announcements on their respective recapitalization plans earlier last week, stock prices of the three biomedical firms plunged further on Friday hit hard by the unverified revelations involving Hwang’s landmark research.

In another story, the same paper reports that:

Kosdaq stocks fell sharply across the board Thursday as bioengineering shares took a severe beating ahead of the announcement of the interim results of an investigation into allegations that Prof. Hwang Woo-suk fabricated his stem cell research results. The tech-heavy Kosdaq market lost and closed down 28.33 points, or 3.92 percent, at 694.25, the biggest point fall this year. The percentage point is the second biggest fall since April 18 when it suffered a 4.31 percentage fall.

This all comes on top of the sharp declines that began on the 16th of the month:

Fallout over the authenticity of stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk’s research sent stem cell stocks plummeting yesterday (december 16th). The KOSDAQ lost more than 25 points. The KOSDAQ Index closed at 716.38 on Friday, down 25.22 points, or 3.4 percent from the previous day.

At one point, the KOSDAQ was down nearly 36.08 points in morning trading. It rebounded six points after Hwang firmly declared, “There is no doubt that stem cells exist” at 2:00 p.m. Major stem cell stocks, including Sansung P&C, Medipost, Macrogen, Easy Bio Systems, Innocell, Lifecord, and Choongang Biotech hit their all-time lows, and 36 out of 55 KOSDAQ-listed biotech companies fell to the bottom end of their price ranges. Due to worsening investor sentiment, the KOSPI index also closed at 1,321.04, down 16.64 points, or 1.24 percent.

My first prediction is that these stocks won't rise anytime soon and that a lot less stock is going to be put in all stem-cell research emanating from Korea for the foreseeable future. My second is that Hwang will be highly sought-after as a private researcher, i.e. doing research in this area for interests who have no interest in peer-reviewed publication. I hope my second prediction is wrong.

See also on this Blog: "Hwang Woo-suk Is Sorry, But Not Really Sorry"

hwang woo suk | biotechnology | stemcells | Hwang | Korea | stem cells | Bioethics





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