Disgraced Scientist Asks Forgiveness

Disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk asked forgiveness Thursday from fellow South Koreans for his fraudulent publications on human stem cell research, but blamed the scandal on junior researchers who he said deceived him.

"I ask for your forgiveness," Hwang told a nationally televised news conference in Seoul. "I feel so miserable that it's difficult even to say sorry."

Hwang, in his first public appearance in nearly three weeks, continued to insist that he had the technology to use cloning to create human embryonic stem cells genetically matched to patients — saying he could do so in as soon as six months if he had access to enough human eggs.

Seoul National University, where Hwang is a professor, on Tuesday issued an investigatory panel's final results saying that he fabricated landmark published claims in 2004 and 2005 to have created the world's first human embryonic stem cells from cloned embryos.

"The use of fake data ... is what I have to take full responsibility for as first author. I acknowledge all of that and apologize once again," he said.

However, Hwang repeated his earlier claims that he was deceived about the data by two junior scientists at a partner research hospital, and said that he believed that his papers were legitimate when they were published.

He said his team at SNU cloned human embryos and grew them to a stage where stem cells could be extracted, but that the junior researchers at a Seoul hospital in charge of culling and growing stem cells from them lied to him about their success in doing so.

Hwang also claimed that he has the technology to create patient-specific stem cells under the right conditions.

"I think we can create patient-specific stem cells in six months if eggs are sufficiently provided," he said.

Scientists hope one day to use such technology to treat afflictions including Alzheimer's disease by allowing patients to grow replacement tissue using their own stem cells.

Wearing a suit and tie and speaking in a subdued manner, Hwang was surrounded by about a dozen people who appeared to be supporters.

His news conference came amid reports that prosecutors had raided his home earlier Thursday, seizing evidence related to an investigation into the stem cell fraud.

The government has said it would launch an audit of national funds provided for Hwang's research.