A doctor who provided human eggs for research by cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-suk said in a broadcast Thursday that the South Korean scientist agreed to withdraw a key research paper because most of the stem cells produced for the article were faked. Roh Sung-il, chairman of the board at Mizmedi Hospital, told KBS television that Hwang had agreed to ask the journal Science to withdraw the paper, published in June to international acclaim. Roh was one of the co-authors of the article that detailed how individual stem cell colonies were created for 11 patients through cloning.Roh also told MBC television that Hwang had pressured a former scientist at his lab to fake data to make it look like there were 11 stem cell colonies.In a separate report, a former researcher told MBC that Hwang ordered him to fabricate photos to make it appear there were 11 separate colonies from only three."This is something I shouldn’t have done,” said the researcher, who was identified only by his last name, Kim, and whose face was not shown. “I had no choice but to do it."Nine of the embryonic stem cell lines Hwang claimed were cloned in the paper were faked, Roh said, and the authenticity of the other two was unknown.Roh also said Hwang told him Thursday morning that there were no embryonic stem cells remaining from the experiments because all colonies died in the lab."I heard some things that I haven’t been aware of when I visited Professor Hwang at his request, that there are no embryonic stem cells,” Roh told MBC."I thought Professor Hwang Woo-suk was the only person who could settle the latest controversy, but after hearing something so different, I decided to make an announcement thinking there shouldn’t be any more of people’s doubts, waste and distress."Hwang did not answer his phone and researchers from his lab at Seoul National University could not immediately be reached for comment.Hwang was staying at the university’s hospital, spokesman Yang Sung-ki said Thursday evening. The researcher has been undergoing treatment there for stress since last week, the spokesman said.South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, in the Philippines for a state visit, called for caution regarding the reports on Hwang’s work."Let’s watch the situation,” Roh said, according to Choi In-ho, the president’s vice spokesman.University of Pittsburgh researcher Gerald Schatten has already asked that Science remove him as the senior author of the report, citing questions about the paper’s accuracy.
