Prosecutors seek jail for fake-clone researcher
Source: Agencies |
August 25, 2009, Tuesday
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PROSECUTORS yesterday demanded a four-year prison term for a South Korean scientist disgraced in a cloning scandal that shook the international scientific community and led to his trial on fraud and other charges.
Hwang Woo-suk was fired from prestigious Seoul National University after purported breakthroughs, including the claim of producing a human embryo through cloning and recovering stem cells from it, were deemed bogus in 2005, when a paper was found to contain fake data.
Once hailed as a national hero, Hwang is accused of accepting funds under false pretenses, embezzling and illegally buying human eggs for his research.
Prosecutors sought the four-year prison term during a hearing in Seoul Central District Court.
Hwang was present in the packed courtroom, and supporters greeted his entrance with applause.
"People's expectations for his stem-cell research had been high," an unidentified prosecutor told the court.
He said prosecutors saw the case as a chance to "resolve chronic research fraud in the academic field."
The court will rule on his guilt or innocence and decide a sentence at a later date.
Hwang had been the only South Korean scientist allowed to carry out research into stem cells that researchers say could lead to revolutionary cures for hard-to-treat diseases such as Alzheimer's.
But the government stripped him of his license in 2006, citing his "ethical problems."
That case scandalized the international scientific community and caused soul-searching in South Korea.
Hwang and his former colleagues at Seoul National University claimed in 2004 to have produced a human embryo through cloning and to have recovered stem cells from it.
A year later, Hwang said the team created human embryonic stem cells genetically matched to specific patients - a purported breakthrough that promised a way to withstand rejection by a patient's immune system.
But a university committee later declared the 2005 paper a fraud based on faked data, and cast doubt on his 2004 findings as well.
Hwang publicly apologized for faking data in the papers but claimed he was deceived by a fellow researcher.
Though most of his research was found to be fake, Hwang and his team successfully created the world's first known dog clone in 2005.
Hwang Woo-suk was fired from prestigious Seoul National University after purported breakthroughs, including the claim of producing a human embryo through cloning and recovering stem cells from it, were deemed bogus in 2005, when a paper was found to contain fake data.
Once hailed as a national hero, Hwang is accused of accepting funds under false pretenses, embezzling and illegally buying human eggs for his research.
Prosecutors sought the four-year prison term during a hearing in Seoul Central District Court.
Hwang was present in the packed courtroom, and supporters greeted his entrance with applause.
"People's expectations for his stem-cell research had been high," an unidentified prosecutor told the court.
He said prosecutors saw the case as a chance to "resolve chronic research fraud in the academic field."
The court will rule on his guilt or innocence and decide a sentence at a later date.
Hwang had been the only South Korean scientist allowed to carry out research into stem cells that researchers say could lead to revolutionary cures for hard-to-treat diseases such as Alzheimer's.
But the government stripped him of his license in 2006, citing his "ethical problems."
That case scandalized the international scientific community and caused soul-searching in South Korea.
Hwang and his former colleagues at Seoul National University claimed in 2004 to have produced a human embryo through cloning and to have recovered stem cells from it.
A year later, Hwang said the team created human embryonic stem cells genetically matched to specific patients - a purported breakthrough that promised a way to withstand rejection by a patient's immune system.
But a university committee later declared the 2005 paper a fraud based on faked data, and cast doubt on his 2004 findings as well.
Hwang publicly apologized for faking data in the papers but claimed he was deceived by a fellow researcher.
Though most of his research was found to be fake, Hwang and his team successfully created the world's first known dog clone in 2005.
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