Hwang Team 'Paid 20 Women for Donating Ova' Ova Procurement Scandal Makes Worldwide Waves Interview Prompted Occyte Donation Scandal Junior Researchers Did Donate Ova for Hwang Project Science Has no Plans to Retract Hwang Research Paper Hwang Supporters Condemn MBC Investigative Report Investigative Program Pays Price for Targeting Hwang

But that is not the point. What matters is that a document supplementing the Hwang team's stem-cell cloning research paper published in the journal Science in February last year states, "Eggs used for the research were donated voluntarily; none of the egg donors, their families and relatives received any benefit from the donation."

It would deal a serious blow to Korea’s achievements in the nascent science if, as a result of the scandal, the country was seen as ignoring international ethical standards. In another project cloning stem cells that genetically match those of injured or sick patients, whose results were published to great fanfare in May, one can wonder if there were any irregularities in the way eggs were obtained. Meanwhile, there could also be questions in the minds of some about Hwang’s insistence that none of his stem cell research is aimed at cloning human beings unless the matter is cleared up.

International competition in stem cell research is fierce. The bioengineering world may well pressure the journal Science to take steps against Hwang and his team over the paper, and that would spell trouble as the team seeks international patents for its bioengineering technologies.

It is high time Prof. Hwang revealed all the facts about the allegation that a junior researcher in his team donated egg cells for the project. Ignorance is no defense. To salvage international support for and cooperation in stem-cell research, we must find a mechanism whereby Hwang’s team can be supervised and its procedures kept transparent by a responsible agency like the National Bioethics Commission.