Ruth Institute Blog

Michael Cook, BioEdge

Disgraced South Korean stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk has escaped jail after being convicted of violating bioethics laws to obtain human eggs and of embezzling US$700,000 in government grants. Hwang became a national hero after he published articles in the journal Science in 2004 claiming that he had successfully cloned human embryos and developed stem cell lines. He was named “Supreme Scientist”; his feat was commemorated on a postage stamp; and the government even considered nominating him for a Nobel prize. However, in 2005 most of his work in human embryonic stem cells was exposed as a fraud. Further investigation showed that he had misused funds and pressured a female researcher into donating eggs for his experiments. Read more…

Michael Cook, BioEdge

So where is human embryonic stem cell research now, 4 years after Hwang Woo-suk was exposed as a fraud? News from the world’s best-funded institute for it suggests that its star is fading. On Wednesday the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine awarded US$230 million for 14 research grants — but only 4 of them were for embryonic stem cells. The others were for adult stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells. It was, according to the New York Times, “a tacit acknowledgment that the promise of human embryonic stem cells is still far in the future”. Read more…