With New Stem Cell Hub, Korea has Emerged as a World Leader in Stem Cell Research – Human Cloning Foundation

The Human Cloning Foundation today congratulated Korean geneticist Hwang Woo-Suk for spearheading the recent opening of the World Stem Cell Hub, an institute that will serve as a stem cell bank and global center for stem cell research located in Seoul, Korea.

The Joong Ang Daily National reported that the center will serve as the core of an international consortium that includes research organizations from the United States and Great Britain.

Reports say the center hopes to foster collaboration that is directed at developing new treatments for "now-incurable diseases."

Korea has emerged as a world leader and pioneer in the area of stem cell research, noted HCF spokesman David Madrigal who cited the strong support to the burgeoning medical technology provided by both the Korean government and Korean Catholic Church in recent months. He added that Professor Hwang himself achieved a milestone in 2004 when his team created a cloned human embryo for the first time in history and successfully extracted a stem cell from it.

Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who attended the World Stem Cell opening ceremony, said the government would continue to support stem cell research. "We will straighten out our system so that good, progressive scientific research is not blocked by controversies regarding human ethics," he said.

Madrigal said that Korea is only one of 13 countries that may allow non-reproductive cloning, according to a recent study of 30 countries conducted by Shaun D. Pattinson and Timothy Caulfield and published in BMC Med Ethics, Volume 5. Other countries that may permit non-reproductive cloning are Belgium, China, Finland, Greece, Israel, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Contact: Mr. David Madrigal
Spokesman, Human Cloning Foundation
HumanCloning.David@gmail.com
www.HumanCloning.org