Why does it seem to always take celebrities to get media’s attention? The Washington Post has reported an apparent adult stem cell success in treating Hawaiian singer Don Ho. Ho reportedly had stem cells taken from his own blood injected into his badly ailing heart, in a procedure not yet . . . . Continue Reading »
Michael Cook is the editor of Bio Edge and he has published a powerful opinion article in the Australian about a science panel that recommends not only overturning Australia’s current ban on all human cloning, but permitting a virtually anything goes license for biotech. Here is the key . . . . Continue Reading »
It’s official: Hwang is a fraud. His own university investigators determined that he deliberately misled the world about his supposed cloning breakthroughs. Nine out of the eleven stem cell lines were faked and the other two have yet to be confirmed. The LA Times is on the story.Look now for . . . . Continue Reading »
There is so much that could be written about this. But, I will just point out that the same dehumanizing, commodifying activity could be unleashed if there is ever widespread human cloning. The need for millions of eggs could result in a the exploitation of women for their eggs, or the selling of . . . . Continue Reading »
South Korean scientists are furious with the “scam” they believe was perpetrated by Woo-Suk Hwang, to the point that they want him “punished.” I am not sure what that might mean, but if he obtained government or private funding based on fraudulent assertions, that could be a . . . . Continue Reading »
Nature has an interesting article about the Hwang debacle. A couple of quotes stuck out for me.“In the past few days, doubts have also been raised about the authenticity of [Hwang’s] 2004 paper... But whether it is valid or not, the loss of confidence in the 2005 study leaves scientists . . . . Continue Reading »
Science has steadfastly defended Hwang’s research—until now. It is investigating the 2004 paper that announced the first human . . . . Continue Reading »
Reuters Alertnet is reporting that Woo-Suk Hwang’s former partner, Gerald Schatten, who first alerted the world to Hwang’s ethical challenges, may be dismissed by his university. I wonder what that is all about? This story may have only just . . . . Continue Reading »
Some more potential good news comes to us now amidst the human cloning debacle out of South Korea. Early human trials are about to begin utilyzing children’s own bone marrow stem cells to treat brain trauma. The Phase 1 trial (which is primarily aimed at testing the safety of the procedure) . . . . Continue Reading »
The Hwang scandal may involve his every notable scientific work. Questions are now being asked whether he actually cloned a dog and gestated it to birth, which no other biotechnologists have ever been able to do. Now, it looks as if his first announcement in Science, that he had cloned human embryos . . . . Continue Reading »