Hwang Woo-suk, 2005 News

South Korean scientist, suffered a stunning fall from grace in late 2005, when former colleagues and a group of young scientists made a series of disclosures that undermined the advances Hwang had claimed to have made in cloning and stem cell research. In May, he announced that he cloned 11 human embryos and extracted stem cells from them that are genetically matched to specific people with various diseases. A former colleague, Dr. Roh Sung Il, said in December that, “Nine of the 11 stem-cell lines...didn't even exist.” In addition, Hwang was accused of ethical lapses in his acquisition of the eggs for his research. Dr. Hwang resigned from Seoul National University in late December.


2005 People in the News