Hwang Woo-suk's landmark stem cell papers found to be fabricated

Hwang Woo-suk was a veterinary scientist at Seoul National University and one of South Korea's most celebrated researchers. In 2004 and 2005 his team published papers in the journal Science claiming to have cloned human embryos and derived stem cells tailored to individual patients. The work was hailed as a breakthrough for treating diseases such as diabetes and spinal injuries, and Hwang became a national hero.

Doubts grew in late 2005 over how egg donors had been recruited and over irregularities in the research data. A Seoul National University investigation panel concluded that the key results, including the patient-specific stem cell lines, had been fabricated. Science retracted the papers in January 2006.

The university dismissed Hwang in 2006. He was later prosecuted, and a Korean court convicted him of embezzlement and violating bioethics law, though not of fraud over the research itself. The scandal damaged South Korea's scientific reputation and prompted tighter rules on research ethics and egg donation. It remains the backdrop to Hwang's later attempts to return to public life.