Support for Korea¡¯s troubled cloning pioneer Prof. Hwang Woo-suk over
an in-depth report on ethical lapses in his research projects by the
broadcaster MBC continued unabated on Saturday. Police estimate that
some 100 members of an online support group and others held a two-hour
candlelight vigil in front of the terrestrial channel¡¯s office in
Yeouido, Seoul in the evening. They said MBC hurt the national interest
with ¡°distorted¡± reporting on occyte procurement by Hwang¡¯s team in its
"PD Diary" on Nov. 22. and called on the broadcaster to apologize by
Monday and punish the producers.
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Supporters of Prof. Hwang Woo-suk held a candlelight protest against an
MBC program that dug the dirt on the cloning pioneer, in front of the
of broadcaster¡¯s office in Yeouido on Saturday afternoon. |
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Participants in the candlelight rally included pop singer Kang Won-lae,
36, who is paraplegic since an accident in 2000, and his wife Kim Song,
33, a choreographer. Kim earlier had ova extracted for artificial
insemination and also to donate them for research. But the egg donation
failed when medical problems surfaced during the process. ¡°I had eggs
extracted three times to have a test-tube baby, and the process was
exactly the same as the egg donations for research purposes. The
hospital informed me of potential side effects, and I had adequate
information," she said.
Kang said, "Many patients suffering from hard-to-cure diseases are
pinning their hopes on stem-cell research. The ethical issue is
inevitable one in this process. But criticizing the research process is
tantamount to telling those who still have hopes to give up their
lives." Growing numbers of people are volunteering to donate eggs for
Hwang¡¯s research since he admitted there were flaws in the way eggs
were obtained because of a shortage in donors. An organization devoted
to ova donation for scientific research said Sunday some 900 people
volunteered through the support website and phone calls. The figure
rose steeply to 200 on Thursday after Hwang made the announcement, and
rose another 4.5 times since then. The online community "I Love Hwang Woo-suk" (cafe.daum.net/ilovehws) had risen to 33,996 on Sunday from a mere 19,000 last week.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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