Cloning scandal exposes fraudulent embryonic stem-cell research.(Hwang Woo-suk)(Brief Article)

Following publication of his study on cloning in the May 2005 issue of the prestigious journal Science, Korean stem-cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk achieved instant rock-star status in the world's scientific community. But in December his star came crashing down, as it became apparent that much of his celebrated research was fraudulent. Science announced that it would retract Dr. Hwang's paper, while scientists from all fields are lamenting the scandal as a major blot that will severely damage the credibility of scientists in general.

"The bottom line is that it's a major disaster to our whole field because the expectations were so high and now we are back to square one," said Joseph Itskovitz, a stem-cell researcher and director of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Israel's Rambam Medical Center, in an interview with the Associated Press.

"This whole scandal is incredible given the scope of collusion that has to be involved," Glenn McGee, editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Bioethics, ...