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Oh.My.God.
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Hollywoodaction



Joined: 02 Jul 2004

PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 9:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mindmetoo wrote:
Some serious fourth hand scuttle butt... Yesterday I was out with my friend. Her company's president is an SNU law prof. He is friends with a former professor of Hwang. The prof was saying "back when Hwang was being declared the greatest scientist in living memory, I was scratching my head because his work as a Phd student didn't impress me at all. I even suspected his thesis of some fraud."

And then before his celebrity, when he was a simple prof of veterinary medicine, he had a number of sexual harassment complaints lodged against him by female students. My friend is part of a feminist NGO. When his star was rising, one of his boosters strong armed the sexual harassment office expunge his record.

And he's apparently been married three times.


Well, that's pushing it a bit. Being married 3 times does not make one a bad scientist. Einstein was married twice, once to his first cousin on his mother side (she was also his second cousin on his father's side).

I have to say that as a science enthusiast (I even have a degree in science) I was more than thrilled by the results of his experiments...but I always had my doubts about him. The idea that a vet was doing research, which he did with success nonetheless, that specialists in genetics and molecular biology should have been doing just didn't sit well with me. It's as odd as a podiatrist looking for a cure for cancer, and finding it.
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igotthisguitar



Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)

PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 9:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Privateer wrote:
I kind of feel embarrassed for Korea.

And in the meantime Hwang is hiding out in the psychiatric ward.

This reminds me of the Japanese paleontologist who faked all his findings of very early human remains in Japan. Hopefully it won't turn out to be quite as bad as all that but I guess we'll have to wait until all the smoke has cleared.

Ummmmmm ... apparently he tried killing himself. That's why he's under round the clock surveillance. IS he crazy? i.e. clinically insane?

My impression is he's something of a meglomaniac driven by delusions of grandeur. To what degree this can be blamed on Korean "culture" is of course entirely open to debate.

This reminds, what chance is there that "Snuppy" was a fake dog? i.e. non-cloned? Merely a nice attractive "well-bred" canine? He certainly looked nice performing in front of the cameras Shocked
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Paji eh Wong



Joined: 03 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hollywoodaction wrote:
Another paper, this one written by a different group of SNU researchers, is under investigation.


http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200512/kt2005122522400611780.htm


Excellent Smithers.
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Ya-ta Boy



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994

PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Ummmmmm ... apparently he tried killing himself. That's why he's under round the clock surveillance. IS he crazy? i.e. clinically insane?


My bet is on major depression brought on by massive embarrassment and humiliation.

If this is true, I win the suicide prediction sweepstakes.
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Ya-ta Boy



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994

PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've started to wonder who was doing the real creative work in the lab. Someone must have been or Schatten would not have hung around as long as he did. My bet is some poor doofus who had to keep his/her mouth shut while Hwang took all the credit.
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igotthisguitar



Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)

PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ya-ta Boy wrote:
My bet is on major depression brought on by massive embarrassment and humiliation.

If this is true, I win the suicide prediction sweepstakes.

When i first heard the news i too thought he'd try committing suicide. The news therefore is not that surprising. Central to the kulture, the loss of face, assault on one's fragile pride.

Is the Korean news media not reporting this? They're only saying he's under surveillance.
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rok_the-boat



Joined: 24 Jan 2004

PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ya-ta Boy wrote:


If this is true, I win the suicide prediction sweepstakes.


Hey, I mentioned the 'bridge' first!
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Ya-ta Boy



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994

PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2005 4:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Hey, I mentioned the 'bridge' first!


Pride is at stake here. Ya wanna take it outside, boy? Twisted Evil
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mindmetoo



Joined: 02 Feb 2004

PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2005 5:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hollywoodaction wrote:
It's as odd as a podiatrist looking for a cure for cancer, and finding it.


Or chemists "finding" the secret to cold fusion.
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patchy



Joined: 26 Apr 2005

PostPosted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 4:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

DNA Report Supports Hwang's Claim


By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter

DNA test results showed samples from Prof. Hwang Woo-seok? laboratory matched the body cells of the patients, which could mean that Hwang? team has partially succeeded in creating patient-tailored stem-cell lines, according to news reports.

Quoting unnamed sources at Seoul National University, which is conducting investigations, news cable channel YTN said that the results received from three separate agencies indicated that the five samples preserved frozen since March had identical DNA structures with the body cells. The cells, however, cannot be regarded as complete stem-cell lines because they can die before evolving into further stages.

The university refused to confirm the news.

The panel has been investigating whether Hwang ever created patient-tailored embryonic stem-cell lines as he claimed in a paper published in journal Science in May. On Friday, the panel said that it found Hwang had faked nine of 11 samples used in the Science article and that it would get complete test results for other samples this week.

The five samples were not included in the Science article, as it was made after the submission of the paper in March, according to the panel. Hwang himself insisted in a press conference on Dec. 16 that the five samples will prove the presence of so-called ``source technology�� of human stem cell cloning, even though he did fake other samples.

The final report on the authenticity of Hwang? research will be delayed until next month as the panel has yet to receive all necessary information from DNA test agencies. It also said on Tuesday that it commissioned more samples used in Hwang? 2004 Science article for DNA tests.

Meanwhile, the panel also said that researcher Kim Sun-jong received $30,000 from Hwang? colleagues Prof. Ahn Curie and Prof. Yoon Hyun-soo while he was in the United States, raising suspicions whether Hwang tried to bribe Kim.

Yoon said that Hwang asked him to give $20,000 to Kim on Nov. 15 after the scandal broke out. Then Ahn handed over another $10,000 to Kim? father on Dec. 2, right after Kim had an interview with YTN in which he defended Hwang. Kim returned all $30,000 to the university, the panel said.

The case may make Yoon vulnerable to a charge of violating the foreign exchange control law. Under the current system, travelers have to report to the customs when carrying more than $10,000 out of the nation.

Kim is suspected of having been involved in fabricating the data of the stem-cell lines. He has also been accused by Hwang of swapping the stem cells used in the research without notifying the professor.



[email protected]
12-27-2005 17:21
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rok_the-boat



Joined: 24 Jan 2004

PostPosted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 7:27 am    Post subject: Test Shows Hwang��s Snuppy Cloned Dog Reply with quote

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200512/kt2005122822483311780.htm

Talk about topsy-turvy. This time the news favours Hwang.

Quote:
A Korean institute Wednesday said that its DNA tests proved Prof. Hwang Woo-suk at Seoul National University (SNU) had successfully cloned a dog.
HumanPass Wednesday confirmed fingerprinting traces of Snuppy, Hwang��s canine clone, matched those of its somatic cell donor, an Afghan hound named Tai, while they demonstrated disparate mitochondrial genotypes. Snuppy was cast under suspicion following revelations that the Korean scientist had fabricated his stem cell research.

``This is an indisputable piece of evidence that Snuppy is a clone. I am sure of the results because I myself watched as Hwang��s team extract blood samples from the two dogs,���� HumanPass chief executive Rhee Seung-jae said.

Rhee said that he started the tests this Monday at the request of Hwang and staged the same experiments three times to ensure the credibility of the result.

``When I informed Hwang of the result today (Wednesday), he said it is the natural outcome. He seemed to have confidence in the dog clone,���� Lee said.....
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The Cosmic Hum



Joined: 09 May 2003
Location: Sonic Space

PostPosted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 8:04 am    Post subject: hmmm Reply with quote

Ok...this is too much....and there's too much at stake...so the lies will continue...this will turn into "Who shot JFK?"...we will never know the truth.
This is an interesting story...but now it seems like smoke and mirrors will be the only view we will ever get of the truth.
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neandergirl



Joined: 23 Jun 2005

PostPosted: Thu Dec 29, 2005 5:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
This time the news favours Hwang.


Not so much now:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4566154.stm
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/12/29/skorea.hwang/index.html
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/index.asp
http://times.hankooki.com/
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On the other hand



Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue

PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 6:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The neo-con WEEKLY STANDARD magazine uses the Hwang debacle as a stick to beat embyonic stem cell research in general.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/522tndbi.asp

The writer, to his credit, doesn't engage in much Korea-bashing, but does include this amusing detail:

Quote:
The South Korean government created a postage stamp in his honor, depicting a figure leaping out of a wheelchair.


Of course, it's usually a good idea to wait for the medical breakthrough to actually happen before issuing the commemorative stamps.
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