16 Jan Korean stem-cell researcher a "typical faker"
The stem-cell research community took a hit when South Korean professor Hwang Woo Suk’s work turned into a global scandal. But scientists say there may be no real lesson to be learned, because he’s a “typical faker,” according to an article over the weekend in the Washington Post.
Similar fakeries occur every so often, just not usually in such high-profile fields as stem-cell research. Sometimes it’s a manipulated image, sometimes a table of numbers with some out of place. It doesn’t happen too often. When it does, journals and peer-review boards resolve to do better next time, but it can still slip through.
As for stem-cell research, it’s not likely to be devastated by the South Korean research scandal, scientists say. His published research was overturned relatively quickly, and there was no medical or other public use of the technologies involved.
• Washington Post: Deception by Researchers Relatively Rare