Journal says it will retract S. Korean researcher's paper

WASHINGTON -- The journal Science said yesterday it will retract a paper written by disgraced South Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk and colleagues, in which they claimed to have efficiently created cloned embryonic stem cells tailored to match patients' genes.

The prestigious journal said it had received permission from all the authors of the May 19, 2005, research paper to make the unusual move.

''To ensure that the wording of the retraction reflects the final conclusions of the Seoul National University (SNU) investigation, Science will finalize the retraction text and proceed with the final steps of the retraction process only after the SNU investigation is completed next week," the journal said in a statement.

''Science hopes this approach will yield a retraction that will convey accurately as much information as possible to the scientific community."

The scandal surrounding the Hwang team's paper has steadily built, with the team gradually admitting to a series of mistakes. They have been accused of outright fabrications and ethical missteps. On Tuesday, a Korean television network reported that Hwang had coerced junior women on his team to donate their own eggs for his research out of fear they would otherwise be excluded from academic recognition.

''She said she told Professor Hwang she wouldn't go through with the procedure, and she said Professor Hwang got upset and said, 'Why not?' " one researcher, speaking about a colleague on the team, told MBC TV.

''She was worried, and it was out of worry that she decided to donate her eggs," said the researcher.

The donor went back to Hwang's laboratory and conducted the cloning experiment on the eggs that she had contributed that morning, her colleague said.

''I hope I can forgive myself for not being able to stand up to the professor," the donor wrote in an e-mail message, provided to MBC.

In 2004, Hwang was the first scientist to publish a paper claiming to have created cloned embryonic stem cells. These cells can become any type of tissue in the body. Science also published that paper and is investigating whether it, too, was fabricated.

In last year's paper, Hwang claimed to have created 11 separate batches of stem cells through a more efficient cloning method than described in the initial paper. The goal of the work is to make tailored stem cells, cloned from patients with particular diseases, for medical study and perhaps eventually to treat a range of conditions from juvenile diabetes to damaged spinal cords.

The university's investigating panel said in an interim report on Friday there was no data to prove Hwang's team had produced cloned embryonic stem cells.