By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter


Even if Korean stem cell pioneer Hwang Woo-suk got eggs from his junior researchers, it raises no ethical or, needless to say, legal concerns, according to a lawmaker.

Rep. Kim Hee-jung from the main opposition Grand National Party made the point in an interview with The Korea Times. She works for the Science, Technology, Information and Telecommunications Committee of the National Assembly, which overseas biotechnology in the country.

``First of all, we don’t know whether Hwang recruited eggs from his junior scientists. But there is no legal problem even if he did, and I think there are no ethical concerns either,’’ the first-term lawmaker said.

She said that the junior researchers offered their eggs voluntarily and would have full knowledge of the risks associated with the procedures involved in producing human ovum for genetic testing as they are scientists as well.

``Hwang’s case is different from the illegal trading of ova. The Internet trading case was problematic, because those women tried to sell their ova illegally and the operations they underwent were dangerous,’’ she said.

``But Hwang’s researchers would know full well how the operation is possibly detrimental to their health and voluntarily donated eggs anyways,’’ she added.

Commercial ova trafficking made headlines of late, and the activities are banned under the bioethics law. The regulations went into effect this January.

The doubt that Hwang got eggs from his research staff clouds his cloning research after being raised late last week by one of his closest co-workers, professor Gerald Schatten at the University of Pittsburgh.

The remarks of Kim diametrically contrast to the general expectation that the in-house egg donation would be a breach of good practices if it is true.

Many scientists believe that researchers are required to keep egg donors at an arm’s length in order to not directly or indirectly influence them.

The fact the ``egg recruitment,’’ the invasive procedure used to generate human eggs from donors in useful number, can be harmful provides critics of Hwang with ammunition that the vulnerable donors could not help but accept the risks.

Ova contributors are given hormone injections that force the ovaries of the young women to superovulate, producing 12-20 eggs per menstrual cycle instead of one.

Possible side effects of the procedure include general discomfort, emotional stress, clotting of the veins and, in some extreme cases, a stroke. In very extreme cases it could lead to infertility or death.

Concern Over In-House Ovum Recruitment

The brewing controversy is undermining Hwang’s groundbreaking feat of being the first to clone human embryos and extracting stem cells in 2003. The breakthrough was published in 2004 through the U.S.-based peer-reviewed journal Science.

The concerns over unethical egg recruitment were first raised last year by the Britain-based journal Nature, which reported that Koo Ja-min, a former junior researcher at Hwang’s lab, said she and one other colleague had donated eggs for the embryonic research.

In response, Hwang immediately denied the reports and Koo also said the article is wrong and was a misunderstanding between her and the writer. The controversy died down because there was no material evidence.

But doubts reemerged last week, as Schatten told the Washington Post that he would pull out of the partnership with Hwang since the Seoul embryologist might be engaged in ethical breaches and lied about them.

``I now have information that leads me to believe he had misled me. My trust is shaken. I am sick at heart. I am not going to be able to collaborate with Woo-suk,’’ he said.

The collaboration between the two scientists dates back to about one-and-a-half years ago after Hwang disclosed establishment of a human stem cell batch in Feb. 2004.

After the announcement, Hwang joined hands with Schatten and has put forth concerted efforts in embryonic stem cell fields filled with the untapped potential.

For example, the two professors spearheaded the world stem cell bank last month, which will provide embryos to scientists from across the world for the research purpose.

In answer to the unexpected remarks, Hwang’s team denied such a wrongdoing and tries to figure out why Schatten said he would withdraw.

Hwang left for the United States himself late Tuesday and he appears to attempt to meet with Schatten, with which Hwang has failed to make a contact of late.

``No egg was provided from research staff as far as I know. I feel badly hurt that Schatten is leaving us over the issue,’’ professor Ahn Cu-rie at Seoul National University, Hwang’s colleague, said.

Despite the ongoing questions, the government promises not to reserve any efforts to underpin Hwang’s research.

For one, the government said it would funnel 15 billion won to the world stem cell bank for next year alone. Hwang also said the exit of Schatten would not affect the stem cell bank project and other studies seriously.

voc200@koreatimes.co.kr