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Panel Confirms S. Korean Cloning Fraud
mmell writes "South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk created a stir when he claimed to have successfully cloned human stem cells, claims which were almost immediately viewed with skepticism in the scientific community. Now an article on the BBC's website chronicles the doctor's final fall from grace as nine scientists empanelled at Seoul University conclude that Doctor Hwang's sensational claims were in fact an elaborate fraud (although they have also confirmed that Doctor Hwang's prior claim to have cloned a dog appears to be valid)." Confirmation of the investigation begun last week.
claims which were almost immediately viewed with skepticism in the scientific community
Of course they did. I love when someone play the "I told you so" card.
All the "We knew no WMD were in Irak, it wasn't the reason for the war", "I knew you shouldn't have bought that brand", "My mother warned me about you" and "I had a feeling" people will now feel validated. Scientist do the same after all!.
This story brings up an interesting point. I wonder if there is such a thing as collective integrity or morality when dealing with a whole country not just individuals. Typically such words as morality, integrity, honesty are attributed to individuals, but I wonder if they also can be attributed to whole countries.
Oh boy, here we go.
As much as people complain about the government and society here, I think it is still the best one that exists as far as a collective sense of honesty and accountability goes.
Oh come on. Accountability in the U.S. is a joke. Take a good long look at all the high-profile misdeeds that happen in the U.S. that go unpunished. Now, take a look at the fact that it was the Korean media that, after Nature's first story about the staff-donated eggs, aggressively pursued this story all the way and really started to break it open to the world. Also note how it was the professors at SNU who pressed for a hearing.
This is the very core of what accountability is. As a culture, you do what you have to in order to police yourself.
You extrapolating Dr. Hwang's actions and saying this dishonesty is a trait of Korean culture is at best a logical fallacy, at worst offensive. The country isn't perfect, but it deserves better analysis than you've given it.