Dear Michael,

I pretty much agree with your opinion. Research misconduct should not be tolerated and, obviously, Dr. Hwang should suffer the consequences. There is no question about that!

But how much should he suffer? Should he be forced to commit a suicide? By the way... he 'almost' committed a suicide...

He was fired by Seoul National University. His papers were retracted. He was stripped of numerous national honors and medals, including his license to conduct SCNT in South Korea. Barred from another university post or/and editorial... ineligible for government funding... heavily criticized by public and mass media...

His private life was exposed. His personal research equpments were seized. His lab notes, which were needed to defend himself, were seized and not being returned. His right to defend himself was hampered. His right to obtain proper legal counselling was and is interfered. He was investigated (tortured, basically) by Korean prosecutors for three months. By the way, no one in Korean history ever was investigated this much, and FYI, many people commit suicide after 3 days of prosecuter's investigation. Democratic Korean government? Please...

I am not sure what kind of further suffering is humanly possible.

I am not claiming that Dr. Hwang should be welcomed by international scientific community at this time, but further infringement of a person's civil right shall not be tolerated. I hope you understand that there is a fine line between a proper displinary punishment and a civil right infringement.

I hope, someday, international scientific community realize that the real culprit in the Korean Stem Cell Scandal was Mizmedi, who has been fabricating papers(now retracted, of course) numerous times and even ****ed around U.S taxpayers' money by deceiving NIH stem cell division.

Dear Michael,

I pretty much agree with your opinion. Research misconduct should not be tolerated and, obviously, Dr. Hwang should suffer the consequences. There is no question about that!

But how much should he suffer? Should he be forced to commit a suicide? By the way... he 'almost' committed a suicide...

He was fired by Seoul National University. His papers were retracted. He was stripped of numerous national honors and medals, including his license to conduct SCNT in South Korea. Barred from another university post or/and editorial... ineligible for government funding... heavily criticized by public and mass media...

His private life was exposed. His personal research equpments were seized. His lab notes, which were needed to defend himself, were seized and not being returned. His right to defend himself was hampered. His right to obtain proper legal counselling was and is interfered. He was investigated (tortured, basically) by Korean prosecutors for three months. By the way, no one in Korean history ever was investigated this much, and FYI, many people commit suicide after 3 days of prosecuter's investigation. Democratic Korean government? Please...

I am not sure what kind of further suffering is humanly possible.

I am not claiming that Dr. Hwang should be welcomed by international scientific community at this time, but further infringement of a person's civil right shall not be tolerated. I hope you understand that there is a fine line between a proper displinary punishment and a civil right infringement.

I hope, someday, international scientific community realize that the real culprit in the Korean Stem Cell Scandal was Mizmedi, who has been fabricating papers(now retracted, of course) numerous times and even ****ed around U.S taxpayers' money by deceiving NIH stem cell division.

While I agree that everyone deserves a second chance, it should be made clear that there are no major or minor degrees of fraud - they're all dishonest, unethical actions. He did not commit a single, unintentional mistake - he knowingly did so many times for years and gained a lot of fame and money from it. Retracting his publications and expecting sympathy is like a prisoner expecting to be freed for apologizing for their crimes. He should be forced to suffer a little more than leaving his previous post for a new one.

Even though he will always be under the scrutiny for his research misconduct and improper acquisition of oocyte, there should be no question about him getting a second opportunity.

If you look at the stem cell scandal in South Korea more closely, you could probably come to a conclusion that Dr. Hwang actually was successful (in retracted 2004, 2005 Science landmark papers) in many aspects. After all, he was the first one in the world to produce SCNT balstocysts (over 100). This post is not to justify Dr. Hwang's research misconduct; however, careful and extensive investigation into this case reveals that Dr. Hwang's role in fraud research was not 'major enough' to preclude him from getting another research opportunity.

Dr. Curt Civin's statement, in his recent interview, probably appears to be the most appropriate assessment of Dr. Hwang so far:

"I think he can climb it ... by solid, serious scientific discovery (with extensive documentation) every step of the way."