Now, South Korean academics at Woo-Suk Hwang’s own university want independent verification that he actually created cloned human embryos and extracted tissue-specific embryonic stem cells from them. Earlier this week, Hwang’s lab said that there would be no independent verification allowed. But if his own colleagues won’t accept his word as verification, it means Hwang’s credibility is really shattered–especially noteworthy given his status in South Korea as a national hero.
One of my most trustworthy sources tells me that Hwang almost certainly did what he claimed. But I must say, if his lab’s resistance to an independent verification continues,the billowing smoke will begin to look a lot like fire.