On December 23, 2005, a South Korean university investigative panel reported that scientist Hwang Woo-Suk had faked his claim that he created stem cells that genetically match patients. The news has stunned the scientific world and those who care about this research. Stem cell opponents have cited Hwang’s actions as an example of why this research should be stopped. Many biologists remain convinced, however, based upon significant amounts of legitimate research, that cloning human cells is achievable and should be pursued because it has the potential to improve treatments or even cure paralysis, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and other diseases and medical conditions.
Hwang claimed in February 2004 that he was the first to clone a human embryo. Then, in May 2005, he claimed that his team had taken cells from 11 different patients and, through cloning, created stem cell lines that were a genetic match for each patient. This was seen as an amazing breakthrough that would lead to a technique for tailoring stem cells to match the genes of a patient with a particular disease or ailment. Cloned stem cells are created by transferring the nucleus of a patient cell, such as a skin cell, which contains its DNA, into an egg cell that has had its nucleus removed. The cloned cell is stimulated to grow for several days and embryonic stem cells are then harvested from it. The process is also referred to as somatic cell nuclear transfer and therapeutic cloning.
In December 2005, however, the South Korean University reported that Hwang faked the research to make it look like 11 stem cell lines were created. Hwang resigned shortly thereafter. According to a January 2006 report released by a Seoul National University, Hwang also fabricated evidence regarding his initial claim that he cloned a human embryo.
Amid calls to stop this research, many leading scientists have stepped forward to stress the need for this type of research to advance. Douglas Melton, the codirector of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, released a statement which read, in part, “This sad news from Korea in no way weakens our belief in all the demonstrably valid experiments indicating that stem cell science holds the promise of eventually providing the basis of treatments and cures for numerous presently intractable chronic diseases. It simply means that we still need to take important steps we thought had already been taken.”
“The Hwang incident underscores the need for the United States government to expand federal funding to accelerate stem cell research, including therapeutic cloning, and to establish strict regulations for this research in this country.” says Dan Anderson of United Spinal’s Public Policy program. “We also call upon the international science community to implement and enforce stringent requirements for stem cell research so incidents like this do not happen again.”
