Shrugging off the Woo-suk Scandal

Apparently the word of stem cell research has managed to turn despite the Hwang Woo-suk scandal. Novocell made insulin-producing cells out of embryonic stem cells and to beging a human clinical trial in 2008. Universtiy of London and University of Michigan researchers restored vision in mice by implanting stem cells in their eyes. And even […]

Hwang
Apparently the word of stem cell research has managed to turn despite the Hwang Woo-suk scandal. Novocell made insulin-producing cells out of embryonic stem cells and to beging a human clinical trial in 2008. Universtiy of London and University of Michigan researchers restored vision in mice by implanting stem cells in their eyes.

And even in Korea, Woo-suk's former colleagues are persevering. From the the Korean newspapaer The Chosun Ilbo:

Kim Kwang-soo together with Miles Cunningham at Harvard Medical School and Prof. Kim Dong-wook at Yonsei University at the end of last month announced findings that injecting stem cells into mice with symptoms of anxiety and depression led to improvement of their conditions.

"The Korean government set up a plan to channel roughly US$454 million into stem cell research over the next decade" to become one of the world's top three powerhouses in the potential-laden stem cell segment, the journal Science reported recently. It predicted embryonic stem cell research could begin earlier than expected thanks to competition among fertility clinics including Pochon CHA University, Maria Biotech, and even the scandal-ridden MizMedi Hospital.