No Stem Cell Scandal Backlash Seen

The ethics scandal surrounding Korean stem cell pioneer Hwang Woo-suk, who gained international renown for being the first researcher to clone human embryos, will not have a long-term impact on advances in stem cell research, experts said Tuesday.

Hwang apologized Thursday for lying about the fact that his work used eggs from workers at his own lab and that other women who gave eggs to the project were paid. Neither was illegal at the time, but Hwang had insisted the eggs were donated and did not come from lab workers.

He said last week he would step down as head of the Seoul-based World Stem Cell Hub, an international collaboration he intended to set up, with centers planned in Britain and California, to accelerate research using his methods — which allowed him to derive stem cells from cloned embryos.

Scientists said that although the controversy may delay the spread of his techniques temporarily, it is unlikely to have a major impact either on research involving cloning or on stem cell work in general.

Dr. Evan Snyder, a neuroscientist interested in cloning stem cells to study brain disorders, was negotiating with Hwang about opening a Stem Cell Hub-backed research center in La Jolla, Calif., when the allegations first surfaced.

Snyder said he is now reconsidering collaboration with Hwang's lab, but has not made any decisions. Hwang's apology came after one of his American collaborators, University of Pittsburgh scientist Gerald Schatten, exposed the ethical lapses and severed ties.

Plans for the Hub in Britain were unknown, but scientists there said Hwang has already shared much of his knowledge with other researchers and the impact is expected to be minimal, even if the multi-country center doesn't get off the ground.

"It may slow it down just a little bit, but it'll just be done another way," said stem cell researcher Robin Lovell-Badge, head of developmental genetics at the National Institute for Medical Research in London. "Technology spreads fast. Once someone has shown it's possible, it's surprising how fast others pick it up and tweak the techniques and get them to work even better."

In any case, so-called therapeutic cloning is only one branch of stem cell research, and many of the crucial questions scientists are pursuing have nothing to do with cloning. International collaboration is already well established, experts say.

"Ninety-nine percent of the work in stem cells does not involve cloning. There are lots of questions we need to address in relation to stem cells and all that work is going on outside this cloning context, so this episode will have little impact on pace of research in the field as a whole," said Peter Andrews, a British stem cell scientist who heads the International Stem Cell Initiative, a global collaboration of stem cell researchers.

The group is working to compare about 75 stem cell lines from 15 labs around the world in countries such as the United States, Canada, Sweden, Japan, Australia, Britain and Israel. The project aims to accelerate stem cell advances by sharing research information and determining to what extent stem cells derived in each location are similar or unique.

While cloning research aims to develop a way to provide genetically matched stem cells for sick patients so that transplants will not stimulate the immune system to reject the tissue, many basic hurdles remain.

Scientists still do not understand how stem cells decide to stay stem cells and how they decide to change into other cell types. They don't know how to direct stem cells to develop into desired cells or tissue types or how to prevent the cells from acquiring unwanted mutations. Controlling that process is crucial. Scientists are also trying to avoid having to use animal products to grow the stem cells.

These areas of research are not connected to what Hwang was working on, and although his work is important, it represents a small section of stem cell research as a whole, experts stressed.

Snyder said the setback in South Korea won't stop cloning research from progressing in the United States. But whether U.S. researchers will be able to collaborate with Hwang and his lab is still an open question.

"I would argue that what happened in Korea is distressing, but I don't think it has any major ramifications on the field," added Stephen Minger, director of the stem cell laboratory at King's College in London.

By Emma Ross