Cloning scandal 'small setback'

2005-11-30 10:23

London - The ethics scandal surrounding Korean stem cell pioneer Hwang Woo-suk, who gained international renown for being the first researcher to clone human embryos, will not have a long-term impact on advances in stem cell research, experts said on Tuesday.

Hwang apologised on Thursday for lying about the fact that his work used eggs from workers at his own lab and that other women who gave eggs to the project were paid. Neither was illegal at the time, but Hwang had insisted the eggs were donated and did not come from lab workers.

He said last week he would step down as head of the Seoul-based World Stem Cell Hub, an international collaboration he intended to set up, with centres planned in Britain and California, to accelerate research using his methods - which allowed him to derive stem cells from cloned embryos.

Scientists said although the controversy may delay the spread of his techniques temporarily, it is unlikely to have a major impact either on research involving cloning or on stem cell work in general.

Collaboration reconsidered

Dr Evan Snyder, a neuroscientist interested in cloning stem cells to study brain disorders, was negotiating with Hwang about opening a Stem Cell Hub-backed research center in La Jolla, California when the allegations first surfaced.

Snyder said he is now reconsidering collaboration with Hwang's lab, but has not made any decisions. Hwang's apology came after one of his American collaborators, University of Pittsburgh scientist Gerald Schatten, exposed the ethical lapses and severed ties.

Plans for the Hub in Britain were unknown, but scientists there said Hwang has already shared much of his knowledge with other researchers and the impact is expected to be minimal, even if the multi-country centre doesn't get off the ground.

So-called therapeutic cloning is only one branch of stem cell research, and many of the crucial questions scientists are pursuing have nothing to do with cloning. International collaboration is already well established, experts say.

"Ninety-nine percent of the work in stem cells does not involve cloning. There are lots of questions we need to address in relation to stem cells and all that work is going on outside this cloning context, so this episode will have little impact on pace of research in the field as a whole," said Peter Andrews, a British stem cell scientist who heads the International Stem Cell Initiative, a global collaboration of stem cell researchers.

The group aims to accelerate stem cell advances by sharing research information and determining to what extent stem cells derived in each location are similar or unique.

Hwang's work, although important, only represents a small section of stem cell research as a whole, experts stressed.

Snyder said the setback in South Korea won't stop cloning research from progressing in the United States. But whether US researchers will be able to collaborate with Hwang and his lab is still an open question.

- AP