A leading member of South Korean human cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk's research team says the embryonic stem cell research paper his team submitted to the journal Science was fabricated. The paper highlighted Hwang's team's claim that they had successfully cloned patient-specific embryonic stem cells that would avoid a key problem associated with them -- that they will be rejected by patient's immune systems. - read the rest at LifeNews.
The news will no doubt set back human cloning in Korea and is a major embarrassment to both Hwang supporters and the academic community at large. However, the fundamental problem with the type of research Hwang conducts is that it involves the destruction of human lives. Although the news of Hwang's deception will cast a shadow on the cloning industry, it does not address the unethical nature of the research in general.
The revelation of fake results is another example of why Scientific Research cannot be trusted to change ethical standards and public policy involving human life.
"There is increasing concern that in modern research, false findings may be the majority or even the vast majority of published research claims," says researcher John Ioannidis in an analysis published via the international medical journal PLoS Medicine.
I’ve often noted the amazing faith that some have in the promise of embryonic stem cell research on the basis of mere conjecture following the publication of limited research investigations. How many of these were wrong? We now know that the most noted stem cell research was fake. Yet billions of taxpayers’ dollars will be spent on research that involves the destruction of human life.
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