WASHINGTON (January 10, 2006)—Commenting on Seoul National University's
final report on the South Korean cloning scandal, which found that a team
led by Dr. Woo-Suk Hwang had fabricated two major studies on human
cloning, an official of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called
this hoax "the most obvious symptom of a field where ethical concerns were
dismissed in the pursuit of alleged miracle cures."
Richard M. Doerflinger, Deputy Director of the USCCB Secretariat for
Pro-Life Activities, said this situation offers an opportunity to realize
that "good ethics is a necessary and integral part of good science and
good medicine."
His statement follows:
"Korean investigators have found two major studies, claiming success in
cloning human embryos for their stem cells, to be a complete hoax. Thus
after almost a decade of intense effort by teams around the world, it
seems no one has been able to take even the first step needed to derive
treatments from human cloning. As the Washington Post reported January 10,
it also means that 'the highly touted field of embryonic stem cell
research is years behind where scientists thought it was.'
"The Korean hoax is the most obvious symptom of a field where ethical
concerns were dismissed in the pursuit of alleged miracle cures. Will our
society insist on exploiting more hundreds of women, and creating and
destroying many more thousands of helpless human lives, in pursuit of this
mirage? Or will we step back and realize that good ethics is a necessary
and integral part of good science and good medicine?
"Lawmakers can best respond to this scandal by enacting a complete ban on
human cloning, as called for by the United Nations, and by increasing
government support for stem cell research that is both medically promising
and morally sound."