Korean Stem Cell Fraud Has Significant Result




Fraud scientist made unwitting discovery, say researchers
· Stem cells were grown from unfertilised egg
· Revelation comes in study of disgraced man's work
Ian Sample, science correspondent
The Guardian
Friday August 3 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/aug/03/stemcells



Scientists at the heart of one of the greatest scandals in modern
science made a dramatic leap forward in stem cell research without
realising it, an investigation into their work revealed yesterday.
Hwang Woo-suk, a leading stem cell scientist, from South Korea, fell
from grace last year when an official inquest found he had faked data
on human cloning. The fraud severely dented hopes for treatments based
on embryonic stem cells, which in principle can grow into any tissue
in the body. But it appears he has inadvertently achieved a world
first, according to researchers who studied his work.

Dr Hwang's team had succeeded in extracting stem cells from human eggs
forced to undergo parthenogenesis, where eggs develop into early-stage
embryos despite not being fertilised by sperm. The feat has been a
much sought goal for stem cell scientists, since it paves the way for
the creation of human tissues that are genetically identical to those
of the egg donor. Replacement organ tissues or nerve fibres grown from
a woman's stem cells could be used to treat serious diseases or
injuries without fear of rejection from the immunity system of the
recipient.

A team of experts, including researchers at Harvard and Cambridge
universities, analysed stem cells created by Dr Hwang's group, and
found that some stem cells must have come from an unfertilised human
egg alone, and not from a cloned embryo as Dr Hwang originally
claimed. Some animals, such as Komodo dragons and hammerhead sharks,
can deliver healthy offspring via virgin births, the outcome of
unfertilised eggs becoming embryos. Very rarely human eggs divide
without being fertilised, but the embryos are flawed so rejected in
the womb.

The latest study, led by George Daley at the Harvard Stem Cell
Institute, clears up the mystery of how Dr Hwang's stem cells were
created. Details of the study appear in the journal Cell Stem Cell. Dr
Daley noted: "They might represent a favourable source for tissue
replacement therapies."

Last month, a team of US and Russian researchers said they had derived
embryonic stem cells from unfertilised eggs.

Miodrag Stojkovic, the professor who, in 2005, created Britain's first
cloned human embryo, said stem cells from eggs could make a
substantial impact on medicine. "They offer hope for patient-specific
stem cells because they contain only the woman's DNA so are
genetically identical to [her]," he said.

.

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