We here at BMG have been advocates for embryonic stem cell research. We’ve backed reform of state laws to make it easier to conduct embryonic stem cell research, and we’ve lamented the fact that certain laws and policies in the US seemed to have caused us to fall behind researchers elsewhere, in particular, South Korea.
The recent revelation that the leading stem cell researcher in South Korea fabricated much of the work that was heralded with great fanfare not long ago is therefore a sad and sobering development. When those results were published, suddenly it seemed as though all the promise that embryonic stem cell research holds was much closer than anyone had thought possible. Turns out that’s not the case: we still appear to be quite some time away from the kind of results that the South Koreans claimed to have achieved, much less anything approaching a cure for any disease.
Does that mean we shouldn’t back embryonic stem cell research? No, in my view, it does not. The fact that one scientist faked a bunch of results is unfortunate, but it doesn’t alter the extraordinary promise of the science. It just means that we need to take very seriously the need for ethical oversight in the course of carrying out this type of research, and we need to realize that in this area – as in most – the claim that self-policing will be adequate is weak.
