The Seoul National University (SNU) team investigating the results of a recent cloning paper just released their initial findings in Seoul. The molecular biology investigation of Professor Hwang Woo-suk's imaginary stem cell lines will continue, but the group has made an initial judgement. The nine person panel determined that the results for 9 of the 11 stem cell lines described in the landmark paper of Hwang, Schatten et. al. in the journal Science were fabricated.
Before the news release some people speculated that perhaps it wasn't deliberate fraud, but sloppy science precipitating a cascade of unfortunate events that led to the spurious results. This seems like a faint if not elusive line to draw, really. Sloppiness in science is inexcusable. Neverthless, careless technique perhaps seemed more palatable because it was incongruous that such a monumental effort to deceive was enacted at such a high level. The SNU panel made it clear that fraud was the root of the problem. The investigating group will finish DNA testing on the two remaining lines to verify them.
Sad really, a lot of people are affected by this news -- patients, scientists, collaborators, research in general and stem cell research in particular. It's a virtual tsunami - but not a real one (to keep it all in perspective). Scandalous.
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Acronym Required previously wrote about the problems with the Hwang et al. research in Peer Grilling: Stem Cell Research", and "Stem Cell Ethics Glitch". We have also written about scientists self-reported transgressions and science reporting in medical journals.
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