Stem Cell Forgery Professor Steps Down From SNU

The doctor behind the recent stem cell forgery scandal in South Korea has now officially stepped down from his position at Seoul National University after the university released it’s first report confirming the stem cell forgery:

South Korean researcher Hwang Woo-suk resigned from his university on Friday after the school said he fabricated stem-cell research that had raised hopes of new cures for hard-to-treat diseases.

A university panel, releasing initial findings of a probe, accused Hwang of damaging the scientific community with his deception, while South Korea’s government rued the scandal surrounding the country’s star scientist and said it may pull its funding for his research.

“I sincerely apologize to the people for creating a shock and disappointment,” Hwang told reporters as he was leaving his office at Seoul National University, considered the country’s top institution of higher learning.

“With an apologetic heart … I step down as professor,” he said.

It is really amazing how far this guy has fallen in such a short time. Just two months ago Dr. Hwang was the toast of Korea. He was hyped to demigod status by the Korean media and government for his ground breaking research. Now he is a national shame and dissapointment. This is not stopping him from trying to play the nationalism card though:

However, Hwang still maintained that he had produced the technology to create patient-matched stem cells as he claimed in a May article in the journal Science.

“I emphasize that patient-specific stem cells belong to South Korea and you are going to see this,” said Hwang, a veterinarian.

This guy and Robert Kim can both hang out and share playing to Korean nationalism one liners.

Make sure you check out Marmot’s take on this.