THE ENDS, NOT THE MEANS ARE THE PROBLEM:

S Korea cloning pioneer disgraced (BBC, 11/24/05)

A cloning pioneer regarded as a hero in his South Korean homeland has resigned and apologised for using human eggs from his own researchers.

Professor Hwang Woo-suk was chairman of the World Stem Cell Hub, which opened this month, based in Seoul.

"I am very sorry that I have to tell the public words that are too shameful and horrible," he announced publicly.

International medical standards warn against using eggs from researchers who may be vulnerable to pressure.

SA 50 and Stem Cell Ethics (SCIAM OBSERVATIONS, 11/24/05)

One of the occupational hazards of compiling a list like the Scientific American 50 is that, with so many people and organizations included, some of them may unexpectedly run afoul of controversy. The other editors and I begin our selection process back in mid-summer; the list appears in our December issue. Much can happen in the intervening months.

Case in point: our Research Leader of the Year for 2005 is Dr. Woo Suk Hwang, the Korean scientist who has made amazing strides in stem cell technology. Time magazine recently hailed his cloned dog Snuppy as Invention of the Year, but his far more noteworthy accomplishment was the cloning of embryonic stem cells from adult human patients. This is precisely the step that would be necessary for some anticipated therapeutic applications of stem cells, and as a hugely important research milestone, it figured strongly in our decision.

Then a couple of weeks ago (just about the time our December issue was rolling off the printing press), scandal reared its head. [...]

The other editors and I are very disappointed to learn that these ethical violations now taint what was the otherwise remarkable scientific achievement of Dr. Hwang. We have known about the allegations against him since 2004, when Nature made them public....

Shocking that guys who engage in anti-human science are unprincipled, eh?

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 24, 2005 7:57 AM