Fake stem-cell claim shows need for ethics, says bishops' official

Published: 2006-01-12

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A South Korean doctor's fake claim that he produced embryonic stem-cell lines from human cloning shows that "good ethics" is the backbone of good science and medicine, said a U.S. bishops' pro-life official. It also proves that human cloning is far from being a viable source of embryonic stem cells that could be used in treating diseases, said Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "Lawmakers can best respond to this scandal by enacting a complete ban on human cloning ... and by increasing government support for stem-cell research that is both medically promising and morally sound," he said in a Jan. 10 statement. Doerflinger criticized the scientific hoax after Seoul National University in South Korea issued two reports in December saying that claims by university researcher Hwang Woo-suk that he had created 11 stem-cell lines from cloned human embryos were false.

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