May 30th, 2005
A Profile Of Hwang Woo Suk
The International Herald-Tribune profiles Korean scientist Hwang Woo Suk and the advances he and his team have achieved. "On one hand, you have 15 micrometers of skin cells, on the other a patient who has suffered from an incurable disease. Maybe this 15 micrometers of skin cell can relieve and save the life of a human being next to me, someone who has suffered for 50 years or must suffer for 50 years. Of the two, which do you think is ethically reasonable to save?" Peering past the the light and noise of the South Korean government publicity and myth-making machine at work, it is still clear that promising medical science is taking place; we can hope that the newly developed techniques will spread rapidly as promised.