An American co-author of a landmark scientific paper has called for its retraction. The research in question came from South Korea's Seoul National University and showed it was possible to use cloning techniques to make embryonic stem cells from invidual patients.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host: One of the authors of a landmark scientific paper is saying the research      is flawed and that the paper should be retracted.  The paper showed that      it was possible to use cloning techniques to make embryonic stem cells      from individual patients.  Scientists at Seoul National University      carried out the research.  Now an American co-author on the paper says he      has reason to believe that some of the work may be fabricated.  Joining      me now is NPR science correspondent Joe Palca.  Good morning.</s>JOE PALCA reporting: Good morning.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Joe, before we get to this new accusation, it seems to be it      was just two weeks ago that this South Korean research was caught up in      an ethical scandal.</s>PALCA: Right.  Well, that's right.  Two weeks ago at the end of      November, Professor Hwang Woo-suk at Seoul National University was forced      to admit that members of his team had used eggs that--from women who had      been paid and, in one case, from junior colleagues, which is sometimes      considered coercive and ethically unacceptable.  He had used their eggs      in the cloning part of this experiment because the paper described how      you could take cells from an adult person, in this case, and create a      cloned embryo, and then from that embryo, you could derive embryonic stem      cells.  And the big breakthrough in this paper was that instead of just      doing this once or twice and taking lots and lots of eggs, they had      actually made 11 different lines from 11 different people.</s>PALCA: But the allegations now are that the data supporting this claim of making      11 separate cell lines is being called into question, and in particular,      Gerald Schatten, who's a co-author on the paper--he's at the University      of Pittsburgh Medical Center.  He actually didn't do the research but      came at the end and helped the Korean scientists write the paper and      present the data.  He's saying that he's got information from a credible      source, one of the other authors on the paper, that some of the pictures      may have not been of all 11 lines but only two lines were used, and some      of the data looks a little too good to be credible.  You know, sometimes      things look too good, and that's sometimes a tip-off that there's      problems.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Well, how did it happen that these new accusations came out      now rather than, say, you know, earlier in this process?</s>PALCA: Well, this story has been bubbling along in the Korean press.  I      mean, it's been the complete center of attention for the Korean media,      and also about 10 days ago or so, a Korean investigative program said      that there were accusations from a team member that there were problems      with some of these figures.  It turns out that it appears that the person      from--the team member that was making the accusation was actually working      in Pittsburgh with Dr. Schatten, and Dr. Schatten wrote a letter to      Science, which published the paper, and in the letter, he said, `I      received allegations from someone involved with the experiments that      certain elements of the report may be fabricated,' and the thinking on      this is that the reports came from this colleague of his from Korea, who      was working in his lab in Pittsburgh.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: So where does this go from here?  This is international.  Who      decides whether these allegations are true or not?</s>PALCA: Well, Science magazine, the journal that published the paper, has      asked Seoul National University to come up with an explanation.  They've      asked the Korean scientists, so there's an investigation at Seoul.  The      University of Pittsburgh is conducting an investigation, and Science is      asking for clarifications.  So all three of these parties will play a      role in figuring this out.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Joe, if these allegations are proven--and we were just talking      yesterday about the damage these ethical problems might do to stem cell      research--how big of a black eye is this?</s>PALCA: Well, it's bad.  It's bad, in general, for science when something      comes out that things may have been altered or doctored in some way, but      other researchers are saying, look, there's a lot going on in embryonic      stem cell research, and this is just one part, and the field will move      forward.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Thanks very much, NPR's science correspondent, Joe Palca.</s>PALCA: You're welcome.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: This is NPR News.