4 August 2007 05:32
Stem cell fraudster accidentally created first 'virgin conception'
By James Macintyre
Published: 03 August 2007
A South Korean stem-cell scientist who two years ago was written off as a
fraud for faking research has emerged as the unlikely pioneer of an
unprecedented scientific version of "virgin birth" - by accident.
Hwang Woo-Suk was found in a 2005 documentary to have conducted cloning
experiments using eggs donated by junior staff in his own laboratory, and
fabricated the results data. He was charged with fraud and embezzling
money from those who funded his research, forcing him to resign in
disgrace.
However, according to a US study into his work published last night, the
professor inadvertently created cells that were derived by
"parthenogenesis", a method by which unfertilised eggs start to divide to
form embryos asexually.
Parthenogenesis derives from the Greek for "virgin birth", and is the
means of reproduction among all fungi and many plants and animals,
including lizards, bees and some fish.
Researchers at the Harvard University Stem Cell Institute and Children's
Hospital Boston Stem Cell Program believe the dismissed scientist may have
stumbled across the discovery without noticing it.
"What is so interesting is they did this by mistake," said Dr George
Daley, whose analysis appears in the journal Cell Stem Cell. "They didn't
really know what they had. If they had identified this as a
parthenogenetic stem cell... it would have been very exciting."
Stem cells are master cells of the body, and while they occur throughout
all tissues and organs, they are hard to grow. Embryonic stem cells can be
made either from days-old embryos left over from fertility clinics or by
using cloning technology - although no researchers have succeeded yet in
cloning a human embryo. Cloning is a process in which the nucleus of an
egg is replaced by the nucleus from a cell in the body.
Parthenogenesis involves chemically tricking an egg into developing
without being fertilised by sperm. Dr Daley's team has done this in mice,
and he said researchers recently succeeded in humans. He and his
colleagues have now devised a set of standards to analyse the DNA of
embryonic stem cells that allows researchers to determine how they were
made. They used this method to analyse the South Korean stem cell line.
"We now know unequivocally that they are human parthenogenetic stem
cells," he said.
Embryonic stem cells could one day be used to create tailor-made medical
treatments and help under-stand diseases better. But human embryonic stem
cell research is controversial. Opponents say destroying an embryo is
tantamount to murder. But in 2004 Professor Hwang was a national hero when
he claimed to have created stem cells from human embryos. He was awarded
the title of Supreme Scientist and stamps were even distributed in his
honour.
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2831136.ece
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