SOUTH KOREA: Disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk charged with criminal fraud, embezzlement and bioethics law violations

Record ID: 424728

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: Disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk charged with criminal fraud, embezzlement and bioethics law violations
  • Date: 12th May 2006
  • Summary: WIDE SHOT: MEMBERS OF MEDIA AT NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 27th May 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA21ETXJWT8I6LRQCGPWTE9BPYP
  • Story Text: A South Korean stem cell scientist who once had been hailed as a national hero faces a lengthy term in jail after a senior prosecutor said on Friday (May 12) that the researcher had been charged with criminal fraud and embezzlement.
    Prosecutors have been investigating the team led by scientist Hwang Woo-suk since January after a panel at the university where he once worked said his team deliberately fabricated key data in two research papers.
    Senior prosecutor Lee In-kyu told reporters that Hwang had been charged with fraud, embezzlement and bioethics law violations over the suspected illegal procurement of human ova.
    Lee said in a statement Hwang was the mastermind of an elaborate scheme to manipulate research results published in the magazine "Science" to make it look like the team had actually produced stem cell lines through cloning human embryos.
    "It has been confirmed the so-called patient-specific stem cells (in the 2005 paper) never existed from the beginning," Park said.
    Lee said Hwang has also been charged with misusing and embezzling 2.8 billion won (2.99 million U.S. dollars) in state funds and private donations.
    "(Professor Hwang) embezzled 205,000 U.S. dollars in state funds received by the Ministry of Science and Technology," he said.
    Hwang is suspected of using part of the funds to purchase human ova -- in violation of a bioethics law that went into effect in 2005 -- and also for donations to leading politicians, Lee said.
    Prosecutors have said the misuse of state funds carries a jail term of up to 10 years while a violation of the bioethics law can mean up to three years behind bars.
    Meanwhile, supporters of Professor Hwang gathered near the prosecutor's office in Seoul to show their support for the scientist.
    Hwang's research had raised hopes because it seemed to hasten the day when genetically specific tissue could be grown from embryonic stem cells to repair damaged organs or treat diseases such as Alzheimer's.
    Hwang has been in seclusion for several months and was not immediately available for comment. Prosecutors also charged several of Hwang's team members with aiding in the fraud.
    Hwang's team basked in global acclaim and Hwang had rock-star like status at home where he was often called "the pride of Korea" after his team said it had achieved three milestones and put the country at the centre of stem cell research.
    In a paper published in the periodical Science in 2004, Hwang's team said it had cloned the first human embryo for research. In 2005, Hwang's team published another paper in Science saying it had produced tailored embryonic stem cells.
    The team also published another paper in 2005 saying it had produced the world's first cloned dog, an Afghan hound named Snuppy after Seoul National University, where Hwang once worked until he resigned in disgrace in December.
    Science magazine said it has retracted the two papers on human embryonic stem cells while investigators said Hwang's team did actually clone the dog, considered one of the most difficult animals in the world to clone because of its reproductive cycle.
    Since January, prosecutors have questioned scores of people involved in the research and grilled Hwang for days.
    Hwang has said he is the victim of a conspiracy to discredit him and has laid the blame for the faked data at the feet of junior researchers at a fertility clinic that took part in the research.
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