Lime light: There is always Snuppy! By Lubna Abdel-Aziz Once upon a time, long, long ago, man looked up to the heavens, to improve his daily lot. He prayed for happiness, success, and good health. He prayed for solutions to his problems, cures for his ailments, explanations to his universe. When he received answers, he thanked the heavens and recited more prayers. All the while however, science was helping the heavens in advancing the case of mankind, at every step of the way, up to the 21st century. No one knows who first discovered fire, invented the wheel, developed weapons, or deciphered day, night, sun and moon. All were the result of scientific thought. Ancient civilisations were fascinated as well as intrigued, as they took their first steps to scientific discovery. Egyptians, Babylonians, and Chinese, among others, made considerable contributions in mathematics, chemistry, and medicine. It was the Greeks however, who left the large scientific heritage of the ancient world. Hippocrates taught us that disease was the result of natural causes, and not inflicted upon us by angry gods. He gave us the oath of medical practice, still recited today by medical graduates. Since we discovered that the body had the power to repair itself, we have been obsessed with the science of treating our bodies, curing our diseases, preserving our health, prolonging our lives, improving our appearance whatever the price. The 1600s brought the best of modern science. Following Galileo, were the likes of Newton, Darwin, Mendel, Pasteur, Einstein, and hundreds in between, enlightening our minds, advancing our knowledge, improving our lives. By the time we reached the 20th century we had become totally dependent on logical and technological science to polish and refine every aspect of our lives. And so it has -- from transportation, communication, to medicine, economy, and even entertainment. While the arts refined our very heart and soul, science catapulted us into outer space. More than ever we are aware of our universe, our environment, as well as our bodies. This obsession with our bodies has driven scientists to a frenetic frenzy, searching, labouring and toiling to cure every disease we inflict upon ourselves. We are determined to abuse our organs with neglect and excess in eating, drinking, smoking, working, playing, and scientists are required to hurriedly create miracle after miracle, to heal every malice and malady we throw their way. The race was on, the pressure high, the competition fierce. With visions of desirable and glamorous women and men on the silver screen, or on the playing fields, our preoccupation with youth, beauty and longevity reached manic proportions. Science came up with two magic words -- 'stem cells' -- the rage of the 21st century, the source of that elusive fountain of youth, health, beauty, and even eternity. Of late, one man stood out in the lead. All eyes were on South Korea, and its 'Super Scientist' Hwang Woo-Suk -- the new darling of the scientific world. Not since Einstein discovered the atom, was there such excitement, exhilaration, and hope. Not only did Woo-Suk clone herds of pigs and cows, and had achieved that near impossible feat of cloning a dog, but he had also created 11 stem cell lines, each tailored to patients' individual needs. The transplantation of stem cells to replace, injured, aging, dying, or dead cells is perceived as a scientific miracle. Stem cells will be able to save lives and cure such evil diseases where there was no known cure to date, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, spinal cord injuries, heart diseases, liver diseases, diabetes, arthritis -- the list is endless. The major breakthrough came in late 1998, the twilight of the 20th century, at the hands of Dr Jamie Thompson of the United States and Dr Arrif Bongso of Singapore, independently, when they successfully isolated stem cells from fertilised eggs, and let them grow perpetually in the laboratory, faithfully producing replicas. But all eyes now were on Dr Hwang Woo-Suk. A stem cell "is a cell that actually stems out". In the more scientific vernaculum, "it is a cell that has not yet taken an identity in the body," therefore it is able to adapt into blood cells, liver cells, skin, etc. Not only must a stem cell renew itself into another stem cell, but it can also terminally differentiate into a specialised cell. How utterly marvellous that Dr Hwang had successfully been able to produce 11 colonies of cells that matched the DNA of the patients that would receive them. What a breakthrough! What a genius! Did he not create Snuppy? No one had ever cloned a dog before. Cloning canines is considered a great challenge, for a number of highly complex reasons. Their embryos are more difficult to manipulate than humans, and because the risk of abnormalities is high, scientists have shied away from producing deformed puppies. After all, dog is man's best friend. He has loved, guarded, and helped him throughout history. Did Laica not replace a human in outer space before astronauts dared to venture, and gave up her life for science? Dr Hwang gave us a beautiful Afghan hound puppy, why would he not give us stem cells, the long awaited miracle workers? Dr Hwang Woo-Suk was born in South Korea's Chungman Province in 1953 during the Korean war. Although his family was poor and his father died when he was five, Hwang dreamed of becoming a scientist. He worked hard and long, training as a biologist and veterinarian at Seoul National University, and there he completed his MSc and PhD in Heriogenology -- the science of animal reproduction. By 1999 he had cloned a cow, by 2002 a pig, and by 2004 he published his article in the pages of the prestigious journal Science, declaring that he had cloned the first human embryo. Within one year, in 2005, he gave birth to Snuppy. Millions in grants came pouring into his lab, and South Korea became the capital of the scientific world. Soon paraplegics would walk, heart patients would run the marathon, and diabetics would snack on chocolate mousse. The Nobel committee would certainly come calling. The 21st century, gave us our second Galileo, Dr Hwang's idol. As rapidly as his star rose, even more rapidly it came crashing down. It appears that in his race to reach the finish line first, Dr Hwang had taken a shortcut. Falsifying data and results in science is unacceptable. Shock waves were felt around the planet. Is there nothing sacred anymore, not in politics, not in the arts, not in human relations, and now, not even in science, the last bastion of truth and dignity? Do we not blindly believe in the scientist because he can substantiate his ideas with facts, and not because he is charming or eloquent and "forcible in his enunciation"? Allegations of irregularities, false claims, data manipulation, fraudulent research, "riddled with loopholes", came pouring in from former associates, and an aggressive TV Korean investigating team. Dr Hwang resigned his key posts, withdrew his scientific papers and is now banished from the elite community of reputable scientists. Dr Stephen Minger of King's College, London remains impressed with the research of Dr Hwang as a pioneer in Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. Says Dr Minger "Why would somebody throw away a very good research career for a paper?" Why indeed? Questions still remain unanswered. Did Dr Hwang commit the ultimate scientific crime? Was he the victim of the jealousy of former research associates? Was the public pressure too high for the success of stem cell science? Or is there a certain enjoyment and satisfaction, even within the scientific community, to see the mighty fall? This however, should be only a minor setback on the road to progress. There are cells to rejuvenate, organs to resurrect, hearts to revive, blood to replace, people to rescue. On with the march of science. There is no stopping now. As for Dr Hwang Woo-Suk, there will always be Snuppy, his loyal best friend. Not to go back is somewhat to advance, And men must walk at least before they dance. -- Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
