Hwang Admits to Faking Data

Hwang Woo-suk has finally admitted that he faked his data when he claimed to have derived the first stem cells from a human clone, as well as when he said he and his colleagues had created custom-made stem cells.

From MSNBC:

"I admit to the suspicion of fabrication," he said in court as prosecutors questioned whether he personally altered parts of data for a 2005 paper to make it appear as if the team had made more stem cell lines then they had actually produced.

"It was clearly my wrongdoing, I admit it."

Hwang has apologized previously for the discredited papers but on Tuesday offered the most detailed account of his role in data manipulations that led to the team's downfall.

He admitted to altering a data sheet given to him by a team member to make it look like a stem cell line had been created in one experiment before the data was given to a U.S. researcher helping to write the paper.

Hwang also said he knew his team did not produce as many stem lines as they had claimed.

Hwang also blamed junior researchers in his lab for fabricating some of the data. Korean authorities have charged Hwang with misusing and embezzling about $3 million of state and private money. He's also charged with violating bioethics laws by paying women to donate their eggs for his work. He could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty for misusing funds, and another three years for the ethics charges.