Korean scientist faked human cloning research

[emad]

Staff and agencies
Tuesday January 10, 2006


South Korea's fallen scientific hero Hwang Woo-suk faked all of his landmark claims to have cloned human embryonic stem cells, his university said today.

Seoul National University said Mr Hwang - once lauded around the world as a human stem cell research pioneer - had carried out a brazen scam that deserved punishment.

The university's latest report into Mr Hwang's work added to the huge damage that has already been done to his reputation in recent weeks.

Last month an earlier report by the university revealed that Mr Hwang's claim to have efficiently developed 11 patient-specific stem cell lines was false. The university said there was no evidence to back up his claims, which were made in an article for the journal Science in 2005.
Many scientists saw this as a huge blow as it was hoped that creating patient-specific stem cell lines would eventually mean an individual's skin cells could be used to make a cloned embryo and from that extract kidney, liver or heart stem cells. These cells could then be used to replace diseased tissue - with no fear of organ rejection - and cure diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and diabetes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/korea/article/0,2763,1683180,00.html

[Ian David]

1. Sure, so they say-- until his Army of Evil Cloned Scientists kill us all!