[Editorial] Stem Cell Research Needs Calm Review Process

A group of young professors at Seoul National University (SNU) have called for the school to do its own review of professors Hwang Woo Suk's 2005 article in the journal Science, and in response school authorities have officially begun discussing the idea. That is fortunate, though late in coming. Questions of science cannot be resolved by the media or politicians, but so far the scholarly community has been silent while it has been the media and the public trying to find the truth. They say that professors who also hold administrative positions are hesitant about a formal review. They recognize the need for verification of the authenticity of the results of the research, but express worry about how the whole process could harm the school. Overheated patriotism are holding back both scholarly research and review.

Stem cell research is state-funded and is being undertaken jointly with a private research institution, and so one way to go about verification could be to have a state organization entrust the process to a research institution. That does not mean that SNU should stand by the sidelines. The University of Pittsburgh, where article co-author Gerald P. Schatten is located, has asked a standing body on research ethics to investigate the article's authenticity. SNU cannot just sit and watch Pittsburgh's inquiry. This issue relates to international confidence in Korean scientific research. The process must not be delayed any further. SNU and the government quickly need to decide on an entity so that the exhausting controversy is put to rest.

The public needs to help. The country needs to share the understanding that the bioscience community requires verification of research findings. The need for that has not been openly discussed because the media has seemed to want to do the scientific verification, public opinion has treated calls for verification as treason, and the press has then encouraged that kind of popular opinion. Scientific questions must be resolved by science. Such questions cannot be answered in the court of public opinion and by the media. The scholarly community now needs to engage in objective and strict verification while the public needs to find composure. No one hopes that professor Hwang's article is deceitful.

The Hankyoreh, 10 December 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]