Stem cell scandal reverberates in U.S.
S. Korea controversy leads to calls for more oversight
By Bruce Lieberman STAFF WRITER
December 18, 2005 San Diego Union-Tribune
signonsandiego.com
As a South Korean scientist defends against mounting accusations that he falsified evidence in a breakthrough stem cell study, researchers in California said the controversy has caused significant damage to a promising and fledgling field.
Doubts about Hwang Woo-suk's claims that he cloned human cells to create embryonic stem cells have made scientists wonder whether the prospect might remain elusive for years. Researchers and doctors hope to use this process to genetically tailor stem cells for patients suffering from such diseases as Parkinson's, diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
"It's a black eye on the whole world of science," Richard Murphy, president of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, said. "Exciting areas of research are always competitive . . . but healthy competition never justifies sloppy research, cutting corners or dishonest behavior."
In California, where voters approved $3 billion to jump-start stem cell research, the South Korean controversy has led to renewed calls for more oversight of publicly funded science.
Meanwhile, San Diego biologists say the scandal shows why the United States needs to lift federal funding restrictions on the use of human embryonic stem cells for research, which requires the destruction of embryos.
"We would have figured out very quickly that there was some problem here. . . . And the truth would have come out much sooner had we been in a position like we normally are – to be able to jump in and work with complete freedom," said John C. Reed, president of the Burnham Institute in La Jolla. "It's very important that we have laboratories throughout the country and around the world to . . . verify whether observations made by one group are reproducible by another."
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In June, Hwang Woo-suk and a team of South Korean researchers announced in the journal Science that they had created 11 colonies of human embryonic stem cells. They supposedly did so by cloning cells from 11 patients.
The cloning procedure, called somatic cell nuclear transfer, was hailed as a huge technical success. It was the first time scientists reported having cloned human cells and then successfully grown them into separate lines of embryonic stem cells. The news catapulted Hwang to fame and brought international prominence to South Korean science.
This fall, however, revelations surfaced that some of Hwang's female lab workers had secretly donated their own eggs for the work. Scientists widely condemned the practice as unethical because it might have resulted from coercion.
A member of Hwang's research team, Roh Sung-il, accused him last week of faking nine of the 11 stem cell colonies by pressuring a lab worker to forge evidence. Yesterday, Roh said he planned to perform tests to determine whether all of the colonies were fabricated.
Hwang recently asked the editors of Science to withdraw the paper published in June. He has admitted to "fatal errors and loopholes in reporting the scientific accomplishment" but insists that his core results are valid.
In the United States, scientists and others connected to stem cell research said the misdeeds of one research group should not impugn an entire field.
"The withdrawal of the results by . . . the South Korean group is a serious setback," Zach W. Hall, president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, said in a statement last week. The institute was established by Proposition 71 a year ago to review research applicants and disburse money.
"The good news is that many talented researchers will continue their work," Hall said. "I am confident that the field will recover and quickly move ahead."
To help prevent misconduct, some advocacy and watchdog groups are calling for stricter rules governing U.S. stem cell projects. The nonprofit Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, for example, has criticized what it sees as a lack of oversight for California's stem cell institute.
"The scandal starkly demonstrates the need for strong and enforceable regulations," according to a statement on the group's Web site. "Voluntary guidelines such as those proposed for U.S. scientists are clearly inadequate."
In the United States, stem cell researchers say they follow guidelines set forth by the National Academies, an independent organization that advises the federal government on issues related to science, engineering and medicine. This year, the National Academies published a report titled "Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research."
"This document provides excellent guidelines for scientific experimentation within a framework of high ethical principles," said Murphy of the Salk Institute.
In California, efforts are under way to establish greater oversight of the stem cell institute.
State Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, has called for more scrutiny of taxpayer-funded stem cell research in California. She sponsored a bill to protect women who donate eggs for research and require the state auditor to regularly review the institute's finances.
The measure overwhelmingly passed in the Legislature this fall but was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said it conflicted with a provision in Proposition 71 barring amendments until 2008.
Spokeswoman Hallye Jordan said Ortiz plans to introduce a bill in January that would resurrect elements aimed at protecting the rights of women who donate eggs. But the financial oversight issue remains unsettled.
"This whole unfortunate episode has pointed to the need for good governmental oversight of this important research," Jordan said last week. "We want to maintain the public's confidence in stem cell research, and the best way to do that is through accountability and openness."
Meanwhile, some scientists say additional oversight is unnecessary.
Dr. Evan Snyder, head of stem cell research at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, said the embarrassing South Korea episode shows how science's built-in system of checks and balances can root out misconduct.
"This was an example of the scientific community doing what it does routinely, which is police itself," Snyder said.
For instance, Hwang's U.S. colleague on the disputed study, University of Pittsburgh biologist Gerald Schatten, helped bring the scandal to light when he ended his collaboration with Hwang a month ago. Schatten, who was senior co-author on the disputed paper in Science, still faces a separate investigation by his university.
"Dr. Schatten is not doing interviews until the University of Pittsburgh's Office of Research Integrity concludes its probe," Michelle Baum, a spokeswoman for the university, said Friday. "We expect that to be within a few weeks, but it's hard to predict."
Snyder and others said it's unlikely that a scientist in Hwang's position will ever recover from such a professional disaster, even though many details about the episode remain unclear.
"An event like this can ruin a scientist's career," said Reed, the head of Burnham. "This may be the end for him. A scientist is nothing without his or her reputation."
Snyder, who had hoped to begin working with Hwang's lab team as part of a new stem cell consortium involving South Korea, the United States and Great Britain, said those plans have been scuttled.
"I will not at all collaborate with them," Snyder said.
Biologists will probably have to go back to the drawing board if cloning is ever to become a tool for making new colonies of stem cells, scientists said.
"We'll all have to hunker down and get it to work and see if it's feasible," Snyder said. "In that respect, we probably are going to have to do a lot of heavy-duty, labor-intensive work again." |
