Verdict on Stem Cell Research Delayed
By Kim Tong-hyung, Staff Reporter Korea Times, 02-05-2009
The government is reluctant to make a quick decision on whether to allow local scientists to resume research on cloned human stem cells, with disturbing memories of Hwang Woo-suk still fresh in the air.
After a lengthy meeting Thursday, the National Bioethics Committee decided to delay its decision over whether to allow the Seoul-based Cha Medical Center to conduct research on embryonic stem cells created from cloned human embryos.
Research on cloned human stem cells has been halted in Korea since 2006, when the bioethics committee banned Hwang from continuing his efforts after his landmark studies were exposed as fraudulent.
The Cha Medical Center had applied for approval on therapeutic cloning, claiming that the methods are crucial in developing more effective treatments for Parkinson's diseases, spinal injuries, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and other difficult medical conditions.
However, in delaying its verdict, the committee demanded the hospital submit a more detailed plan for research. The Cha Medial Center plans to reapply in two or three months, according to officials at the hospital.
The embryonic stem cell research described by the Cha Medical Center involves the process of cloning, whereby the nucleus of a somatic cell of a patient is transferred to an egg with no nucleus. The created embryo is used to harvest stem cells and grow them into the type of tissue needed for treatment.
Scientists claim that the method would open new opportunities in developing patient-specific treatment and eliminate tissue rejection during transplants, and allow them to secure a larger amount of stem cells for research.
However, the destruction of human embryos in the process, as well as the ethics debate surrounding cloning, makes the technology controversial.
Hwang, formerly a researcher at Seoul National University (SNU), reached rock-star status, rare for a scientist, in 2005, by claiming to have created cloned embryos from patient-specific embryonic stem cells.
But he was fired from the school a year later after the studies were deemed fraudulent.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
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