Hwang Woo-suk

Hwang Woo-suk (황우석, born January 29, 1953) is a South Korean veterinarian and researcher.

Although Hwang had already established himself as an expert in animal cloning and secured celebrity status in South Korea in the late 1990s, his alleged sudden success came as a surprise because this was the first reported success in human somatic cell cloning.

Until Hwang's claim, it was generally agreed that creating a human stem cell by cloning was next to impossible due to the complexity of primates.

Hwang explained that his team used 242 eggs to create a single cell line.

In May, Nature journal published an article stating that Hwang had used eggs taken from two of his graduate students, based on an interview with one of the students.

The article raised the question of whether the students might have been pressured to give eggs and thus whether such a donation would have been "voluntary" as Hwang claimed in his scientific paper.

At that time, Hwang denied that he had used his students' eggs.

Hwang first caught media attention in South Korea when he announced he had successfully created a cloned dairy cow, Yeongrong-i in February 1999.

His alleged success was touted as the fifth instance in the world in cow cloning, with a notable caveat: Hwang failed to provide scientifically verifiable data for the research, giving only media sessions and photo ops.

Hwang's next claim came in April 1999, when he announced the cloning of a Korean cow, Jin-i, also without providing any scientifically verifiable data.

Despite the notable absence of any of the scientific data needed to probe the validity of the research, Hwang's several claims were well-received by the South Korean media and public, who were attracted by Hwang's claim of immeasurable economic prospect that his research was said to be promising.

The claims of his research results resulted in him being awarded the Scientist of the Year Award by the Korea Science Journalists Association.

Hwang was best known for two articles published in the journal Science in 2004 and 2005, where he reported he had succeeded in creating human embryonic stem cells by cloning.

However, soon after the first paper was released, an article in the journal Nature charged Hwang with having committed ethical violations by using eggs from his graduate students and from the black market.

Until 2004, Hwang's main area of research remained in creating genetically modified livestock that included cows and pigs.

During that period, Hwang claimed to have created a BSE-resistant cow (which has not been verified), and also stated his intention to clone a Siberian tiger.

In February 2004, Hwang and his team announced that they had successfully created an embryonic stem cell by the somatic cell nuclear transfer method, and published their paper in the March 12 issue of Science.

His work, published in the June 17 issue of Science, was instantly hailed as a breakthrough in biotechnology because the cells were allegedly created with somatic cells from patients of different age and gender, while the stem cell of 2004 was created with eggs and somatic cells from a single female donor.

This meant every patient could receive custom-made treatment with no immune reactions.

In addition, Hwang's claim meant that his team had boosted their success rate by 14 times and that this technology could be medically viable.

Also, Time magazine named Hwang one of its "People Who Mattered 2004", stating that Hwang "has already proved that human cloning is no longer science fiction, but a fact of life."

However, he became infamous around November 2005 for fabricating a series of stem cell experiments that were published in high-profile journals, the case known as the Hwang affair.

Although he denied the charges at first, Hwang admitted the allegations were true in November 2005.

Shortly after this, data from his human cloning experiments was revealed to have been falsified.

Hwang's team announced an even greater achievement a year later in May 2005, and claimed they had created 11 human embryonic stem cells using 185 eggs.

Hwang made further headlines in May 2005 when he criticized U.S. President George W. Bush's policy on embryonic stem cell research.

He was a professor of theriogenology and biotechnology at Seoul National University until he was dismissed on March 20, 2006.

He was considered a pioneering expert in stem cell research and even called the "Pride of Korea".

On May 12, 2006, Hwang was charged with embezzlement and bioethics law violations after it emerged much of his stem cell research had been faked.

On the same day, CNN reported that the scientist in 2006 had admitted faking his findings, after questions of impropriety had emerged.

The Korea Times reported on June 10, 2007, that Seoul National University fired him, and the South Korean government canceled his financial support and barred him from engaging in stem cell research.

Hwang was sentenced to a two years suspended prison sentence at the Seoul Central District Court on 26 October 2009, after being found guilty of embezzlement and bioethical violations but cleared of fraud.

He had his conviction upheld but his suspended sentence reduced by 6 months on 15 December 2010 by an appeals court in South Korea.

In February 2011, Hwang visited Libya as part of a US$133 million project in the North African country to build a stem cell research center and transfer relevant technology.

The project was canceled due to the 2011 Libyan civil war.

In 2014, the South Korean Supreme Court upheld its 2010 ruling.

Since the controversy, Hwang has maintained a relatively low profile, but continues to work in scientific fields.

In November 2015, a Chinese biotech company Boyalife Group announced that it would partner with Hwang's laboratory, Sooam Biotech, to open the world's largest animal cloning factory in Tianjin.

The factory would aim to produce up to one million cattle embryos per year to meet the increasing demand for quality beef in China.

As of September 2020, he worked at the Sooam Bioengineering Research Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, leading research efforts into creating cloned pig embryos and embryonic stem cell lines.