Seoul National University has concluded that Professor Woo-Suk Hwang did not produce the first cloned human embryo in 2004.
The University began an investigation into Professor Hwang’s work following allegations about the methods used to obtain human oocytes used in experiments (
see previous newsletter item), but went on to look at the actual experimental results themselves. As
reported previously, this preliminary investigation concluded that the Hwang lab had not produced the first patient-matched embryonic stem (ES) cell lines. The University’s
final report has also concluded that the paper reporting the cloning of a human blastocyst by somatic cell nuclear transfer, and the derivation of an embryonic stem cell line from it, had also been fabricated.
The University Investigation Committee undertook DNA fingerprinting analyses on samples from the ES cell line (NT-1), as well as from the donor of the egg cell and somatic tissue. They found that the cell line did not have the same profile as that of the donor material, demonstrating that it could not have been derived following nuclear transfer from the donor. Comparison of 48 polymorphic loci in the NT-1 cell line and the egg donor showed that they were not identical but displayed 8 inconsistencies, proving that NT-1 was not an ES cell line derived from a cloned blastocyst. The Committee concludes that this data suggests, “that there is a high possibility that NT-1 resulted from the fusion of a non-enucleated egg and a nearby polar body, which initiated a parthenogenetic process” and that, “the claim in 2004 (Science) article that the DNA fingerprinting pattern of NT-1 and that of the donor A match perfectly was a clear false report”.
However, the Committee did find that the cloned dog, Snuppy, was a genuine clone of another dog from which somatic material had been taken. This finding was verified by DNA fingerprinting analysis.
The unravelling of the work of the South Korean lab, and Professor Hwang himself, who was once thought to lead the field in stem cell research, has caused much disappointment in the scientific community. However, numerous stem cell scientists and funding agencies have expressed the hope that these revelations, despite being major setback, do not significantly damage the reputation of legitimate science (see
BBC news story). Professor Hwang himself has been quoted as saying that his work has been “
sabotaged”, but he now faces the loss of his grants and national honours from the South Korean government.