Hwang cloned hEs, but not patient-specific

[rayilynlee <rayilynlee@xxxxxxx>]

Hwang cloned human embryos but not patient-tailored stem cells: reports 
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      General Science : December 27, 2005  
      
Disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-Suk and his team apparently achieved 
a world first by cloning human embryos even though parts of his later research 
data were faked, news reports said Tuesday. 

It remains unclear, however, whether Hwang's team went on to produce 
patient-specific stem cells as claimed, Yonhap news agency and YTN TV said, 
quoting an unidentified official with Hwang's Seoul National University. 

In order to verify Hwang's apparently landmark 2005 paper published in the US 
journal Science, investigators from the university thawed and analyzed five 
samples of cells which were purportedly capable of developing into 
patient-specific stem cells. 

However, the cells were frozen at too early a stage in their development to 
reach any conclusion, the reports said. 

Stem cells are the body's master cells which experts believe can grow into any 
organ and thus someday can be used to help fight cancer and other diseases such 
as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes. 

Patient-specific cells would reduce the risk of rejection. 

A university spokesman declined to comment on any new findings by its 
investigation, pending a final announcement expected sometime next month. 

The investigators reportedly found the DNA of the five cell samples matches 
those of patients, which means that those cell lines were indeed obtained from 
cloned human embryos. 

"The DNAs were matched but the samples are at an early stage of development. 
They can hardly be regarded as stem cells yet," the source was quoted as 
saying. xperts here said that thanks mainly to the large number of human eggs 
Hwang was able to obtain from dubious sources, he had apparently succeeded in 
cloning human embryos, a world first. 

"However, cultivating stem cells from cloned human embryos is much more 
difficult than simply cloning human embryos," said Kong Il-Keun, bioengineering 
expert at Suncheon University. 

The investigative panel on December 23 announced that Hwang had fabricated much 
of the data in the 2005 paper. 

Hwang immediately tendered his resignation from the university but claimed that 
the five frozen cell samples would vindicate him. 

Questions have also been raised about Hwang's other work including a 2004 paper 
also published in Science in which he claimed that he had achieved the first 
success in cloning human stem cells. 

The 2004 paper has also been called into question after it was revealed that it 
contained photos from an unrelated paper. 

The photos, claiming to show batches of the world's first cloned human 
embryonic stem cells, were apparently the same as those used in a research 
article by another South Korean team in a magazine called Molecules and Cells. 

 






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