At the time that things were about to unravel with revelations by Gerald Schatten that Hwang Woo-suk’s labs had paid donors for eggs and perhaps taken eggs from subordinate scientists, it is now alleged that Schatten – who ‘blew the whistle’ on the whole matter – was negotiating for a share in at least one patent related to the work of Hwang’s lab. Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition), which is now part of my perverse Korean reading obsession, reports this morning that the matter involves as well a request by Schatten to serve as chair of the world stem cell bank. Text of the story:
Prof. Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh demanded to share a patent for stem cell cloning technology developed by geneticist Hwang Woo-suk and his team, press reports said Monday. Hwang and his team deny the report. Schatten recently ended his collaboration with Hwang citing ethical flaws in occyte procurement for an earlier project.
The U.S edition of the JoongAng Ilbo reported Monday that Schatten demanded 50 percent of the patent for technology cloning tailored stem cells for terminally ill patients early last month. He also asked Hwang to give him the chairmanship of the World Stem Cell Foundation and to allow several U.S scientists to sit on the foundations board. The paper said Hwang rejected the request, saying the stem cell research was a national asset and he was not in a position to give out stakes in the patent.However, Prof. Lee Byung-choen, a member of Hwangs team, said he heard of no such demand and Hwang did not mention it. Government officials involved in the research also said they had no knowledge of it. Prior to this weeks Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Science and Technology Minister Oh Myung told reporters he had not been briefed about the demand and Prof. Hwang did not discuss the issue with the government. Health and Welfare Minister Kim Geun-tae and presidential policy aide Kim Byung-jun also denied knowledge of the demand.
Wang Sang-ha of Seogang University, Seoul National University Hospitals legal adviser, said Schatten made the demand while discussing the establishment of a stem cell hub network in the U.S. with Hwang. He confirmed Lee had no knowledge of the U.S professors request.
Another member of Hwangs team said Schatten did not make the demand officially. We intend to maintain good relations with Prof. Schatten for international joint stem cell research, he said. We are embarrassed by the report since it gives the impression we took issue with Prof. Schattens demand to put the blame on him.
The most likely interpretation is that Schatten did informally ask for a share of the patent but Hwang did not officially discuss the issue with his team and the government. Schatten has not commented on the allegation.
Throwing tar at the whistleblower? The whistleblower has no clothes? This all reinforces the point we’ve made particularly in the Times-Union column that international regulation must begin with unambiguous rules concerning the conduct of scientists in stem cell research, and the U.S. simply must lead in that effort, given that our nation controls most of the intellectual property and houses most of the leading scientists in the world and is home to the key regulatory agency that will set the standards that define access for any of these therapies to the all-important US market. Otherwise we will watch in awe as one crazy scandal like this after another unfolds on international television. And the answer to this is not for the World Stem Cell Bank to hire bioethicists – it is for the NAS group and others to step up to the plate right now to propose that international standards for scientific integrity and clinical research be adopted voluntarily by the leaders of all major stem cell programs – and indeed insist that enrollment in such coalition be requisite to any relationship that entails funding from state based stem cell funding programs.