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The controversy over the work of South Korean scientist Dr. Hwang Woo-suk continues to grow. Doubts about the credibility of his research is a blow not only to his many supporters in South Korea, but to millions of people around the world who had hoped that his work held out cures for debilitating and life-threatening diseases. Dr. Hwang must answer the critics and end this dispute for his sake, for the sake of his country and for those who suffer from illness and disease.
In 2004, Dr. Hwang claimed he had made history by being the first person to clone a human cell. In plain terms, he removed natural DNA — the genetic code — from an egg and inserted DNA from another egg. Each of two new eggs then grew into an embryo. An embryo produces stem cells, which are capable of developing into every type of human tissue. The stem cells are considered clones, an exact genetic copy of an individual.
The significance of this breakthrough for medical science is hard to overestimate. Cloning allows a donor to generate new body parts. Since the DNA in the new tissue is the same as that of the recipient, his or her body would not reject it. This opens the door to entirely new ranges of therapies and treatments for previously untreatable diseases.
Following up on his initial success, Dr. Hwang claimed in 2005 to have cloned the 11 human embryos to produce stem cells. Not only did he replicate and expand on his original procedure, but he said he created a new technique that makes it easier and more efficient to clone cells. The news made him a national hero and instilled hope in millions of individuals around the world suffering from life-threatening ailments.
That hope has evaporated following reports that his groundbreaking work may have been faked. His research was first tainted by news that two junior researchers on his team had been paid to donate eggs for the project. This is a violation of ethical guidelines that prohibit researchers and their employees from donating eggs for concerns that women might feel pressured into donating. While that may have raised alarms in the scientific community — a U.S. collaborator, Dr. Gerald Schatten, said he would sever relations with the project — South Koreans rallied behind Dr. Hwang, lining up to donate eggs for his research.
The problems multiplied earlier in December following the admission that the pictures published in the online version of the 2005 cloning paper were duplicates. Dr. Hwang said the mistake was unintentional. Since then questions have been raised about all 11 cells that he claims to have created.
On Dec. 16, Dr. Roh Sung-il, Dr. Hwang's colleague, said nine of the cells did not exist, adding that Dr. Hwang had confessed that his cells had died and that the photos came from embryos at Dr. Roh's fertility clinic.
U.S. researchers have mounted additional challenges, claiming that tracings of the DNA in the 2004 experiments are suspicious. Dr. Hwang has said the charges are false and that he can prove his claims.
The revelations have rocked the South Korean public. They have rallied behind him throughout the controversy, dismissing the charges against him as a foreign conspiracy against South Korean science. It is ironic, then, that young South Korean researchers have been among the most skeptical about Dr. Hwang's claims and resolute in challenging his work.
The easiest way to end the controversy would be to replicate Dr. Hwang's results. Even a quicker solution is to have outside experts examine Dr. Hwang's clones and confirm they are what he claims.
The entire controversy raises disturbing questions. Why did some of the world's top science journals accept and publish papers that were at worst false and at best poorly presented? Why did they not notice the duplicate photos? How did leading U.S. researchers become complicit in what appears to be fraud? (Dr. Hwang also claimed to have cloned two dogs, but there is little data to prove it; Dr. Schatten also coauthored that paper.)
Has South Korean nationalism overshadowed the search for scientific truth? Most significantly, where does this leave the millions of people who had vested their dreams in Dr. Hwang's research? How will it influence the debate over stem-cell research?
Such work is deeply mired in controversy as a result of ethical questions surrounding stem-cell research. Will this new dispute overshadow and influence the scientific debate? This controversy is about much more than Dr. Hwang's research, but it is up to him to end the questions that have arisen.
(On Dec. 23, a nine-member investigation panel from Seoul National University made an announcement that some of the results of Dr. Hwang's 2005 paper had been intentionally fabricated.)
The Japan Times Weekly
Dec. 31, 2005
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黄禹錫韓国・ソウル大教授の胚性幹細胞（ES細胞）研究について捏造疑惑が起き、研究に基づく画期的治療を期待していた世界中の難病患者を失望させた。教授は疑惑解明のため、真実を明らかにすべきだ。
黄教授は04年に「ヒトクローン胚からES細胞作製に成功した」と発表した。ES細胞は人体のあらゆる組織に成長する能力を持ち、患者本人のクローン胚から作ったES細胞を使えば、拒絶反応のない組織や細胞ができるので、難病治療の切り札になりうる。
教授は05年にも、従来よりも格段に効率よくクローン胚からES細胞11株を作ったと発表、国民的英雄になり、難病治療の期待をさらに高めた。
しかしその後、研究捏造の疑惑が出てきた。まず、研究班の女性2人が金銭と引き換えに卵子を提供したことが発覚、倫理的問題になった。次に、教授の05年の研究論文に掲載された細胞の写真が捏造されたことが判明し、11個の細胞全部について疑問が出てきた。
捏造疑惑は韓国国民に大きな衝撃を与えた。多くの韓国人は、疑惑を韓国の科学を貶める国際的陰謀として黄教授を支持しているが、教授の研究に疑問を抱いている多くは、同国の若い研究者だ。問題を解決するには、第三者に教授が作製したというクローン細胞を検証させるべきだ。
一連の疑惑は多くの疑問を浮き彫りにした。一流の科学誌がなぜ疑惑の論文を掲載したのか。なぜ捏造写真を見抜けなかったのか。なぜ米国の一流研究者が疑惑の研究に関与したのか。
韓国ナショナリズムが研究に影響したのか、幹細胞研究に関する論議への影響はどうなるのかなどの問題もある。
問題は黄教授の研究だけではないが、現在の疑惑の解明は教授次第である。
（12月23日、ソウル大学の調査委員会は中間発表で、黄教授の05年の論文の一部は捏造だったと断定した）
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