Phony cloning.A scientist who wowed the world with breakthrough research is now making headlines for faking those experiments. Woo Suk SUK Sveriges Unga Katoliker (Swedens Young Catholics) Hwang, a biologist at Seoul National University Not to be confused with the University of Seoul. Seoul National University (SNU) is a national research university in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, SNU was the first national university in South Korea, and served as a model for the many national and public in South Korea, claimed that he had cloned (created an exact genetic copy) human stem cells stem cells, unspecialized human or animal cells that can produce mature specialized body cells and at the same time replicate themselves. Embryonic stem cells are derived from a blastocyst (the blastula typical of placental mammals; see embryo), which is very young (see SW, 5/10/04). Stem cells can become any of the body's cell types. Scientists think stem cells may someday help treat diseases, so Hwang's research caused a stir when it was published in two articles in the journal Science. To avoid publishing phony research, scientific journals require experts to review all research papers before they are published, says Monica Bradford, executive editor of Science. The experts read the papers and review the data to make sure the scientists followed the scientific method, a step-by-step method of conducting experiments. Reviewers of Hwang's submissions didn't realize that his papers were based on phony data. Because it appeared that Hwang followed the scientific method, he passed this review process. Cheaters usually get caught when other scientists try to repeat the experiments, says George Daley, a stem-cell scientist at Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. It is a prestigious American medical school located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. . Before that could happen, someone in Hwang's lab blew the whistle. The hoax Hoax Balloon Hoax, The news story in 1844, reporting the transatlantic crossing of a balloon with eight passengers. [Am. Lit.: The Balloon Hoax in Poe] Piltdown man missing link turned out to be orangutan. [Br. Hist. was a letdown for stem-cell scientists, but they're not giving up: "There's a new race on to do what Hwang claimed to have done," says Daley. Adams |
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