Most of the key results in a landmark stem cell paper by South Korea鈥檚 cloning pioneer Woo Suk Hwang were faked, an investigation panel convened by Seoul National University revealed on Friday.
At least nine of the 11 human stem cell lines, that Hwang and his team claimed to have cloned from 11 patients, were deliberately fabricated, said the investigators鈥� interim report into the study published in May 2005 by Hwang and colleagues in Science (vol 308 p 1777). The study had offered great hope to patients as it meant that embryonic stem cell lines 鈥� which could be used to repair or replace damaged cells 鈥� might be tailored to specific individuals.
鈥淭he data of the 2005 paper were not the result of simple mistakes but of an intentional fabrication,鈥� the committee said in a statement issued after a week-long probe. 鈥淭his is a serious wrongdoing that has damaged the foundation of science.鈥�
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Hwang had admitted to having played a role in manipulating scientific data, committee spokeswoman Jung-Hye Roh said.
Hwang, once hailed as a national hero, immediately accepted the committee鈥檚 report and gave up his professorship at the university. 鈥淚 sincerely apologise,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 am resigning as a Seoul National University professor.鈥�
But he insisted that patient-tailored embryonic stem cells remain 鈥渢he proud technology of our nation鈥�.
Splitting samples
Roh revealed that DNA fingerprint tests on the two sets of samples from Hwang鈥檚 lab 鈥� that of the allegedly cloned cells and the original body cells from the patients who donated them 鈥� to show that they matched, were faked for nine of the supposed stem cell lines.
鈥淲e found out that Hwang鈥檚 team faked it by splitting the patients鈥� body cells into two test tubes when they submitted the samples of the nine of the 11 cell lines, except for numbers two and three,鈥� said Roe, according to The Korea Times. 鈥淪o the two types of data were bound to be identical.鈥�
She said that the investigating committee had commissioned DNA tests on Thursday to verify whether stem cell lines two and three created by Hwang鈥檚 team were indeed real patient-matched stem cells.
Roh added that the committee was also investigating the authenticity of Hwang鈥檚 2004 paper that outlines the first cloning of a human embryo to create a stem cell line. Investigators will furthermore examine Hwang鈥檚 work on 鈥淪nuppy鈥� 鈥� the Afghan hound that the professor unveiled in August as the world鈥檚 first cloned dog. Three blood samples have been taken from Snuppy for DNA testing, Roh confirmed .
Expression of concern
Hwang, and US co-author Gerald Schatten at the University of Pittsburgh had asked Science for a retraction of their paper on 16 December. At that time, Hwang stood by the veracity of his results, but admitted that there were 鈥渋rretrievable mistakes in the photography鈥� accompanying the study.
The journal is still awaiting agreement from the other co-authors, and more information from Hwang, in order to retract the paper, previously hailed as a major breakthrough. But on 22 December, it issued an 鈥淓ditorial Expression of Concern鈥�.
鈥淪ince we do not yet have sufficient information to proceed with the retraction, we are issuing this statement so that readers are aware that concerns have been raised about the validity of the data in this paper,鈥� says Donald Kennedy, editor-in-chief of Science.
The journal is also reviewing Hwang鈥檚 2004 paper on the first cloned human embryonic stem cell line.
