University Apologizes Over South Korean Researcher’s Fake Stem Cell
SEOUL, South Korea
South Korea’s top university this week apologized for the scandal over Hwang Woo-suk’s faked stem cell research, calling it a blemish on the country that embraced the scientist as a national hero.
The government said it would withdraw Hwang’s “top scientist” title — an honor created especially for him in the wake of purported breakthroughs that raised hopes for using stem cells to develop new treatments of diseases from Alzheimer’s to diabetes.
Seoul National University’s apology came a day after its investigative panel confirmed that Hwang faked all of his human stem cell research, including his landmark 2004 claim in the journal Science that he cloned a human embryo and extracted stem cells from it.
“I, as the president of the university, sincerely apologize to the public,” Chung Un-chan, the head of the state-run institution, told a nationally televised news conference.
He called Hwang’s fraud a “blemish on the whole scientific community as well as our country” and a “criminal act in academia.”
