Key parts of stem cell study faked, says co-author

Key parts of a landmark paper from South Korea’s most renowned stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk were fabricated and he is seeking to h...

Key parts of a landmark paper from South Korea’s most renowned stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk were fabricated and he is seeking to have the work withdrawn, Roh Sung-il, a close collaborator told the daily newspaper Hankyoreh on Thursday.

Three other South Korean television networks quoted Roh, a hospital administrator and a specialist in fertility studies, as saying that he, Hwang and another co-author of the 2005 science paper on tailor-made stem cells had notified the journal about the withdrawing.

Roh told media nine of the 11 stem cell lines that were part of the tailored stem study paper were fabricated and the authenticity of the other two was questionable.

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On Tuesday, a US stem cell expert Dr. Gerald Schatten, who lent his name and credibility to South Korean cloning pioneers asked that his name be removed from the scientific paper published by Hwang and colleagues at the Seoul National University.

Hwang is best known in scientific circles for cloning the first human embryos for research and the study published earlier this year about developing tailored stem cells that could lead one day to cures for ailments such as severe spinal cord injuries.

Hwang has been at the center of a media storm since November 24 when he apologised for two junior women researchers donating their eggs for his work.

The international scientific community frowns on donations by researchers because of possible coercion. Hwang—who has spent time in hospital himself in recent days for apparent exhaustion — is considered a hero in South Korea for bringing the country to the forefront of stem cell and cloning studies. —Reuters

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