Hwang Woo-Suk: The Ethics Of Human Egg Cells

How can one soar higher than the stars and be any longer than the dirt below them? Many have asked that question in regard to scientist who manipulated their data in a studies to prove their points. These scientists, who at one point could be seen as the forerunner in their field, now cannot be trusted when it comes to publishing their data. One of these leading scientists, Hwang Woo-Suk, was once considered the pride of Korea before being exposed as a fraud in 2005-2006. Having claimed to perfectly clone human egg cells in a Science article, Hwang was soon met with an investigation revolving his studies. This investigation exposed Hwang for his manipulative and unethical ways he retrieved human egg cells. The controversy surrounding these revelations led to public claims that Hwang had …show more content…
One of the most unethical things done with this method was using your own coworkers into donating their own eggs for your research. A scientist who worked with Hwang during this period responded to an investigation conducted Science in regard to rumors of members of the team giving their eggs to Hwang and shared vital information about the subject. The scientist, who wished to remain anonymous, “provided names, donation records, and an e-mail message he had received from one of the researchers saying she had donated eggs under pressure from Hwang” (Chong, Normille, and Vogel 23). As one of the fundamental policy of a study is to not put any form of harm onto others, Hwang has clearly violated that rule. As simple it is to believe that a scientist should never ask their fellow coworkers to give up a part of themselves for the experiment, Hwang manipulated them into give up their eggs even when the study was allowing the people of the public to volunteer their own eggs. Even though some people did voluntary give their eggs, it didn’t seem it was necessary as Hwang would not use