Cloning pioneer did fake results, probe finds

16:00 23 December 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Shaoni Bhattacharya and AFP

Most of the key results in a landmark stem cell paper by South Korea’s cloning pioneer Woo Suk Hwang were faked, an investigation panel convened by Seoul National University revealed on Friday.

At least nine of the 11 human stem cell lines, that Hwang and his team claimed to have cloned from 11 patients, were deliberately fabricated, said the investigators' interim report into the study published in May 2005 by Hwang and colleagues in Science (vol 308 p 1777). The study had offered great hope to patients as it meant that embryonic stem cell lines – which could be used to repair or replace damaged cells – might be tailored to specific individuals.

"The data of the 2005 paper were not the result of simple mistakes but of an intentional fabrication," the committee said in a statement issued after a week-long probe. "This is a serious wrongdoing that has damaged the foundation of science."

Hwang had admitted to having played a role in manipulating scientific data, committee spokeswoman Jung-Hye Roh said.

Hwang, once hailed as a national hero, immediately accepted the committee’s report and gave up his professorship at the university. "I sincerely apologise," he said. "I am resigning as a Seoul National University professor."

But he insisted that patient-tailored embryonic stem cells remain "the proud technology of our nation".

Splitting samples
Roh revealed that DNA fingerprint tests on the two sets of samples from Hwang’s lab – that of the allegedly cloned cells and the original body cells from the patients who donated them – to show that they matched, were faked for nine of the supposed stem cell lines.

"We found out that Hwang’s team faked it by splitting the patients' body cells into two test tubes when they submitted the samples of the nine of the 11 cell lines, except for numbers two and three," said Roe, according to The Korea Times. "So the two types of data were bound to be identical."

She said that the investigating committee had commissioned DNA tests on Thursday to verify whether stem cell lines two and three created by Hwang’s team were indeed real patient-matched stem cells.

Roh added that the committee was also investigating the authenticity of Hwang's 2004 paper that outlines the first cloning of a human embryo to create a stem cell line. Investigators will furthermore examine Hwang's work on "Snuppy" – the Afghan hound that the professor unveiled in August as the world's first cloned dog. Three blood samples have been taken from Snuppy for DNA testing, Roh confirmed .

Expression of concern
Hwang, and US co-author Gerald Schatten at the University of Pittsburgh had asked Science for a retraction of their paper on 16 December. At that time, Hwang stood by the veracity of his results, but admitted that there were "irretrievable mistakes in the photography" accompanying the study.

The journal is still awaiting agreement from the other co-authors, and more information from Hwang, in order to retract the paper, previously hailed as a major breakthrough. But on 22 December, it issued an "Editorial Expression of Concern".

"Since we do not yet have sufficient information to proceed with the retraction, we are issuing this statement so that readers are aware that concerns have been raised about the validity of the data in this paper," says Donald Kennedy, editor-in-chief of Science.

The journal is also reviewing Hwang's 2004 paper on the first cloned human embryonic stem cell line.

Munye kuphela uMdali laba abanye ngomaklemara ababonwa nguMaqhame hk hk hk.

heyi madoda..hatshi mpela; kanti abenzanga le abayithi yi 'research ethics' yini, beziyangisa njee.

Siyabonga mfowethu ngalindaba.

Kodwa sizabon'okunye lapha ngama 'nano-technology' laleyo DNA, phela bathi babhizi bezam'uku thatha lawo ma stem cells benze abayithi yi"perpetual being"..umuntu ongafiyo...phela bathi i "memory" yomuntu is what makes you what you are, so they say they want to download i memory yomuntu oyabe esesiyakufa, then they upload into the stem cell, besebegxumeka kukhophi (i clone), ngalindlela kuzakuba lomkhumbulo ongapheliyo, besitsho ngokuthi umuntu lo uzabekhona kuze kube yihhemeni.

Asazi njalo.....