[Editorial] Overcome the Shame to Find Hope Again

It was all a lie. Not one of the stem cell lines professor Hwang Woo Suk's team of researchers said they had created ever actually existed. That much had already been confirmed about the 2005 article in the journal Science, but the stem cells described in the 2004 article supposedly based on the existence of their "source technology" never existed either. Seoul National University's inquiry committee announced Tuesday that Hwang's first stem cell had actually not been a somatic stem cell, but a fertilized stem cell made through parthenogenesis.

The findings were expected, but they are still shocking and tragic. All Hwang and his researchers have to show for themselves is the technology to transfer the nucleus of a somatic cell in cloning embryos and the technology of cultivating blastocyst. That does not mean anything special, since the committee confirmed that they did not have the ability to cultivate stem cells. Hwang had clamed his team was the only people who had that ability, and it was hoped that would lead to overcoming incurable diseases.

What was special about Hwang and his researchers is to be found in their falsifications, lies, and violations of research ethics. They authored the 2005 article without any somatic stem cells, and they wrote the 2004 article as if they had somatic stem cells when they knew quite well that they could have resulted from parthenogenesis. They lied about the DNA fingerprinting and teratoma experimentation. The number of eggs they used over a three-year period was actually 2,061. Hwang asked female researchers if they would donate eggs, and he used their eggs when they agreed. He had become the hope of Korea and the envy of the world, but now it is a sad day for all of us.

It makes you even angrier that he kept repeating the lies. He says someone switched his stem cells, but that will most likely be the last lie to be exposed. He had several opportunities to tell the truth, but each time he covered it up with more untruths. He was as skillful as any political hack when it came to manipulating the media or government agencies. He established his reputation through fabrications then maintained it with lies.

All that is left unresolved at this point are questions such as whether his claim that his stem cells were switched around has any basis, whether part of the motive in writing the fictional articles was to cheat the government out of money from the national budget, how the funding was spent, and whether Cheong Wa Dae or various government agencies knew the truth about what was going on and conspired to hide it. All that will become apparent through the prosecution's investigation and an inquiry by the Board of Audit and Inspection.

It is even more important that we take an introspective look at ourselves. The academic community, the national government, the politicians, the media, and finally the general public were all party to the Hwang Woo Suk affair. Politicians and the national government led the way in making him a hero, public opinion supported him blindly, and then the media jumped on the bandwagon and either ignored the truth or helped hide it. The pursuit of the truth was lost in the face of violent public sentiment. The falsification of research results was the method employed, and the goal justified the process. Differing opinions were trampled on, and people were forced to assume the same views and conclusions. That is why every last detail of the whole affair has to be recorded and preserved in the form of a white paper report, even if it does help in determining legal or academic responsibility. It will be a record of a humiliation. But it will also be a stepping stone of hope in rising to the challenge again.

In the course of the Hwang Woo Suk affair the country was able to see that it has proud young scientists armed with determination and passion for the truth. They demonstrated that science has the surprising ability to uncover its problems on its own and come clean. The country has also confirmed that most of its scientists are fine scholars when it comes to the academics and doing their job. Reportedly there are some 100 scientists working on stem cell research like Hwang and his team. They will relight the fire of hope about overcoming incurable diseases and demonstrate to the world the genuineness behind Korea's scientific accomplishments. Let us give them the love and support we showed to Hwang and his researchers so that they can give us new hope.

The Hankyoreh, 11 January 2006.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]