HWANG’S EGG COUNT RISES
The number of eggs used by disgraced Korean stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk keeps climbing. He originally claimed that he had used only 427 eggs to produce 11 human embryonic stem cell lines. This claim has been proven fraudulent. In January, investigators from Seoul National University disclosed that he had used 2,061 eggs from 129 donors. A month later, the National Bioethics Committee found that he had gathered 2,221 eggs from 119 donors. And now police prosecutors say that the number is 2,236 eggs from 136 donors. Hwang did not act alone. It also appears that Hanyang University Medical Center gave eggs to Hwang without obtaining the consent of the donors. This was a clear violation of a Korean bioethics law.
Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.
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