Embryonic Stem Cell Research Fraud Putting Lives at Stake

A lot of media attention has been focused on Korean embryonic stem cell researcher Woo-Suk Hwang over the past year or so. Even today, the spotlight continues to shine on Professor Hwang even after his research has been discredited. The time has come to end this personality cult and shift the focus to that which matters most – developing effective treatments for diseases previously thought to be incurable.

Regardless of whether Prof. Hwang’s research is true, and all ethical concerns aside, effective treatments based on embryonic stem cells are many years, if not decades away. This critical detail has been glossed over during the media’s love/hate-fest with Prof. Hwang. Another critical point that has been obscured in this frenzy is that adult stem cell research has already led to viable treatments for debilitating diseases - treatments that are in use today. A good example is VesCell adult stem cell therapy for heart disease.

Prof. Hwang’s improprieties might prove to be a major setback for embryonic stem cell research. Nonetheless, they are completely unrelated to adult stem cell research. Since lives are at stake, it is essential that the press make a point of distinguishing between the two. It would be a tragedy if even one person were to decline a potentially life-saving treatment due to misinformation stemming from lazy, inaccurate reporting.

Jay D. Lenner Jr.