Cloning expert 'did no wrong'

2005-11-24 10:12

Seoul - The South Korean government said on Thursday that cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-Suk had received ova from his own junior researchers and other women who were paid in return, but insisted that no ethical breaches had occurred.

"There were no breaches of legal or ethical standards in the course of obtaining human eggs for the research," said a spokesperson for the ministry of health and welfare.

Ethical questions have been circulating for months concerning the origin of eggs used in Hwang's landmark research that produced the first cloned human embryo last year.

They include allegations that Hwang's team received eggs from his own female junior researchers in violation of international ethical standards and other women were paid to produce ova for the team.

Hwang was on Thursday to defend himself and the reputation of his research team against the ethical charges in a press conference.

'No wrongdoing'

While confirming that the allegations were essentially true, ministry spokesperson Choi Hee-Joo insisted Hwang or his trail-blazing research team did nothing wrong.

Choi said that government findings were based on investigations into Hwang by Seoul National University's Institutional review board, a committee set up to monitor the procurement of human eggs for stem cell research.

He said two junior members of Hwang's team had given their own ova for research in 2003 but there was no coercion or impropriety involved. They used false names and Hwang had no idea where the eggs came from, he said.

"Therefore, there was no breach of ethical standards and (the controversy) stemmed from cultural differences in the East and West," he said.

He added the Hwang knew of the donations only after questions concerning the origins of the eggs were raised in the May 2004 edition of the influential medical journal Nature.

Mounting pressure

Under internationally accepted medical ethics standards, researchers are warned against receiving ova from members of their own research teams who are deemed to be in a dependent relationship and vulnerable to pressure.

Choi also confirmed that other women who provided eggs had received money in return but insisted the payment was compensation for expenses only, rather than payment for the ova, and Hwang knew nothing of the transactions.

The donations were made before South Korea enacted a new bio-ethics law this year outlawing the trade in human eggs, he pointed out.

Pressure on Hwang to answer charges on unethical conduct has been building since early this month when Gerald Schatten, a prominent researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, ended his 20-month collaboration with him.

Schatten cited alleged ethical breaches and lies from Hwang about how he obtained the eggs.

Hwang and his team at Seoul National University made headlines in February 2004 when they announced the first-ever cloning of human embryos, from which they harvested "therapeutic" embryonic stem cells.

- AFP