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Prosecutors have concluded that Hwang Woo-suk¡¯s results published in a 2005 paper on patient-tailored stem cells were the result of tampering by a MizMedi fertility clinic researcher. Hwang was indeed deceived by the researcher, Kim Seon-jong, into believing that stem cells grown from in-vitro fertilized embryos were cloned embryonic stem cells that matched patients¡¯ DNA. But they also found that Hwang masterminded the inflation and fabrication of data.
After a Seoul National University panel concluded that stem cells Hwang documented in a 2004 paper were actually produced by parthenogenesis -- or grown from an unfertilized egg -- it now seems clear there never were any patient-specific stem cells from cloned embryos either. Hwang received W35 billion (US $35 million) in research funds from the government and companies and allegedly misused a considerable amount of the money by laundering it through 63 bank accounts set up under false names.
There are several reasons why his scientific fraud has so long been undisclosed. First is the rigid hierarchical structure in Hwang¡¯s research team. Hwang as supervisor was immensely powerful in whether researchers got degrees and jobs. When Hwang told them to make it look as if there were 12 stem cells when there were not even half that number, they followed orders. Next, the Institutional Review Board (IRB), which is responsible for verifying research ethics, worked in a way where members held a hearing on five to 10 cases in their lunch break. What¡¯s more, some of its members were appointed by Hwang himself or his co-researchers, making it doubtful how thorough the review process was.
Third, Hwang¡¯s 2004 paper had 15 co-authors and his 2005 paper as many as 25. None of them talked about problems with the stem cell research. All of them just wanted a free ride on the coattails of a man who was then considered a national hero and his ground-breaking achievement. There was no system in place to verify whether Hwang¡¯s results were fabricated or not. Fourth, the government focused on superficial things, like bodyguards to protect Hwang, when it provided some W28.7 billion (US $28.7 million) in research funds, and no one in the government tried to examine the authenticity of his work.
Fifth, the media failed to play their role as watchdog. They joined everyone else in promoting scientific commercialism without warning against the unconditional enthusiasm in the scientific community and society about Hwang¡¯s work.
Prosecutors have likened the scandal to a ¡°Seongsu Bridge collapse¡± in the scientific community, after a jerry-built structure in Seoul whose collapse claimed 32 lives. The catastrophic credibility crisis Korea¡¯s scientists now find themselves in is the direct result of a scientific commercialism that seeks fame with hurriedly produced results, and the absence of a strict review system for research. The greatest lesson the stem cell scandal teaches us is that scientific research progresses step by grueling step and rarely if ever generates remarkable results overnight.
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