Hwang - Somewhere Between Hero and Villain
Kim Tae-gyu
The Korea Times
_____________
Seol (South Korea):
The suspicious eyes on Korea's cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk have turned to his other breakthroughs as the authenticity of his patient-specific stem cells is now in question. The 52-year-old scientist Friday stunned the nation by saying he requested withdrawal of the paper on the tailor-made stem cells to the U.S. journal Science due to several problems.
Hwang achieved global stardom by making three firsts _ the first cloned human embryonic stem cells, the first tailor-made stem cells and the first dog clones. Thus far, critics have launched onslaughts on the tailor-made stem cells.
Hwang announced his team established 11 stem cell batches matched to patients in May through Science. 
However, the other two achievements have been free from controversy over their authenticity and even Korea¡¯s MBC TV network that is leading the anti-Hwang camp did not seriously take issue with the other two works. But things are completely different now as doubts have also flared up over the two previously acknowledged exploits.
The U.S. journal New Scientist quoted a specialist as raising questions about the DNA fingerprint data in the 2004 Science report that features the first-ever cloned human embryonic stem cells. In fact, the doubts over the authenticity of Hwang's customized stem cells began after the nation's scientists analyzed DNA fingerprint traces of the cells.
In response, Hwang flatly rebuffed the claim Friday saying he can conduct a DNA test with the cell after obtaining the green light from a somatic cell donor, since his team retains stem cells now.
Regarding Snuppy, which Hwang claimed is the first cloned dog in history, some embryologists have recently raised the possibility of the experiments being fakes. Geneticists say that Hwang might have a developed a dog embryo by establishing pregnancy with one of the two divided cells while storing the other after freezing it.
Then several years later, Hwang could use the other one to gain a similar puppy.
Dec 17, 2005
Kim Tae-gyuThe Korea Times
_____________
Seol (South Korea):
The suspicious eyes on Korea's cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk have turned to his other breakthroughs as the authenticity of his patient-specific stem cells is now in question. The 52-year-old scientist Friday stunned the nation by saying he requested withdrawal of the paper on the tailor-made stem cells to the U.S. journal Science due to several problems.
Hwang achieved global stardom by making three firsts _ the first cloned human embryonic stem cells, the first tailor-made stem cells and the first dog clones. Thus far, critics have launched onslaughts on the tailor-made stem cells.
Hwang announced his team established 11 stem cell batches matched to patients in May through Science.
However, the other two achievements have been free from controversy over their authenticity and even Korea¡¯s MBC TV network that is leading the anti-Hwang camp did not seriously take issue with the other two works. But things are completely different now as doubts have also flared up over the two previously acknowledged exploits.The U.S. journal New Scientist quoted a specialist as raising questions about the DNA fingerprint data in the 2004 Science report that features the first-ever cloned human embryonic stem cells. In fact, the doubts over the authenticity of Hwang's customized stem cells began after the nation's scientists analyzed DNA fingerprint traces of the cells.
In response, Hwang flatly rebuffed the claim Friday saying he can conduct a DNA test with the cell after obtaining the green light from a somatic cell donor, since his team retains stem cells now.
Regarding Snuppy, which Hwang claimed is the first cloned dog in history, some embryologists have recently raised the possibility of the experiments being fakes. Geneticists say that Hwang might have a developed a dog embryo by establishing pregnancy with one of the two divided cells while storing the other after freezing it.
Then several years later, Hwang could use the other one to gain a similar puppy.
Dec 17, 2005
