Hwang Woo-suk Indicted for Fraud
Lee Hyo-sik
Korea Times
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The prosecution on Friday indicted disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk on charges of fraud, embezzlement and a breach of the bioethics law, without detention, ending a five-month probe into the research fabrication scandal.
Investigators concluded that Hwang's claims to have cloned human stem cells and developed patient-tailored stem cells were fraudulent.
They also said Hwang masterminded the fabrication of stem-cell research, but he was deceived by researcher Kim Sun-jong on the existence of cloned patent-specific stem cells.
According to the prosecution, Kim smuggled in-vitro fertilized stem cells into Hwang's lab, lying to his superior that he successfully created patient-tailored embryonic stem cell lines. Kim was under enormous pressure after his failure to cultivate them.
``Hwang instructed his research team to fabricate an array of data, including photos, the number of stem cells created and DNA test results, in the 2004 and 2005 papers published in the U.S. journal `Science- senior prosecutor Lee In-kyu told reporters on Friday.
Lee said Hwang also embezzled 2.8 billion won in state funds and private donations for his research, and bought human ova from donors in violation of the bioethics law.
May 12, 2006
Lee Hyo-sik
Korea Times
_________
The prosecution on Friday indicted disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk on charges of fraud, embezzlement and a breach of the bioethics law, without detention, ending a five-month probe into the research fabrication scandal.
Investigators concluded that Hwang's claims to have cloned human stem cells and developed patient-tailored stem cells were fraudulent.
They also said Hwang masterminded the fabrication of stem-cell research, but he was deceived by researcher Kim Sun-jong on the existence of cloned patent-specific stem cells.
According to the prosecution, Kim smuggled in-vitro fertilized stem cells into Hwang's lab, lying to his superior that he successfully created patient-tailored embryonic stem cell lines. Kim was under enormous pressure after his failure to cultivate them.
``Hwang instructed his research team to fabricate an array of data, including photos, the number of stem cells created and DNA test results, in the 2004 and 2005 papers published in the U.S. journal `Science- senior prosecutor Lee In-kyu told reporters on Friday.
Lee said Hwang also embezzled 2.8 billion won in state funds and private donations for his research, and bought human ova from donors in violation of the bioethics law.
May 12, 2006
