Almost two years ago, the news that human stem cells had been cloned sent reverberations around the world.
Scientists everywhere speculated about the impact South Korean scientist Woo-Suk Hwang's research could have had.
Now we know that some of what Hwang wrote, researched and presented was probably fake.
Hwang, a former professor at Seoul National University, published a paper in February 2004 in the research journal Science claiming that he and a colleague had created stem cell lines using a cloned embryo.
This week, a panel from the Seoul National University announced parts of his research were fabricated.
The news is disheartening, to say the least. It sets research on stem cells back and hurts and discredits the legitimate work of scientists everywhere.
What's worse is an MSU professor, Jose Cibelli, had his name on the report. Cibelli said he only read through Hwang's manuscript before it was submitted for publication.
Cibelli said he was not involved in the actual research and couldn't have known if Hwang faked it.
MSU officials have promised to investigate the matter and should — as soon as possible.
But strange tales of cloning and stem cells aren't new.
Clonaid, a company founded by a man associated with a group called the Raelians (one of their definitive characteristics being their belief in aliens) claimed in December 2002 that it cloned a baby.
The verdict is still out on whether the baby was real, actually cloned or an alien. No one's actually seen this "baby."
Despite the setback in the stem cell research community, work involving stem cells shouldn't stop. Possible benefits that stem cell research could provide shouldn't be ignored because of one researcher's possible bad decision.
Cibelli said he hopes scientists will learn from these mistakes, and as a result, better research will be conducted in America.
Stem cell research will face tougher scrutiny, so scientists can't get away with what Hwang did.
Caution must be taken to make sure scientists don't get the chance to publish fake research.
This type of highly controversial research shouldn't be rushed because scientists are eager to beat each other getting it out. Science shouldn't be a competition to receive the fame of being first. It's about getting the most accurate and safe research published and applied to medicine.
That's how some of the most important discoveries were made — through time.
If scientists want people to be persuaded that stem cell research and cloning could help in the future, they will need to present research through good science— research that is backed up and proven to be real.
Until then, it's back to the drawing board.
