The scientists arrived at Seoul National University’s Hoam Faculty House around at 8 a.m. for what he believed was a conversation with the director of Tokyo University’s Human Genome Center, Prof. Yusuke Nakamura, on the future of biotechnology. There he found eight or nine reporters waiting for him. After asking the organizers, CrystalGenomics, what brought the journalists, he left immediately. Embarrassed company staff ran after him, but Hwang and Nakamura held their meeting behind closed doors in Hwang’s office instead.

CrystalGenomics denies it was trying to milk the event for publicity, saying the meeting was arranged “with a purely academic interest to examine the possibility of a cooperative study between human genome and stem cell researchers.”

But CrystalGenomics on Monday morning announced it has struck a cooperation deal with OncoTherapy, a bio-tech firm founded by Nakamura. An official in the Ministry of Science and Technology said the head of the company “called us himself to pass their schedule on to reporters and publicize the interview as much as possible.” Hwang was not told. A participant at the scene said people should not attempt to exploit Hwang’s fame and impose on his time since he is working hard round the clock to find cures for incurable diseases.

(englishnews@chosun.com )