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A footnote to the Hwang cloning fiasco
In a PR statement they may live to regret, the South Korean government and its citizens have begun to try and defend the infamous Hwang by painting his critics as Western cultural imperialists. Even most of the pro-cloning liberals among us do not approve of egg harvesting from young women researchers whose careers depend on the great professor—in this case, Professor Hwang.

According to an Associated Press report, Choi Hee-joo said this: "The scientists donated their eggs 'voluntarily for the success of the research by sacrificing themselves,' Choi said. He said the donations were made according to values consistent with Eastern culture and shouldn't be looked at from the standpoint of Western culture." Quite apart from the fact that Hwang lied about these "donations" from junior researchers, and seems therefore to have been well aware of "Western" values in science, it is depressing to consider that the Korean government deems it appropriate for women to respond to such "sacrificial" pressures.

I noted last month that the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, which was approved this fall as a consensus statement by every nation, states with great importance that cultural-diversity claims cannot be used to undermine basic human rights. I did not expect to find the problem illustrated quite so soon.

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Previous Life Matters columns include:

Inventing Ethics | A collaborator walks out on the South Korean cloning genius, citing ethical lapses. (Nov. 18, 2005)

The Killing Fields of Holland: Next It's the Kids | From the Netherlands to California, from stem cells to nanotechnology, how we treat life matters. (Nov. 9, 2005)

Nations United on Bioethics | But is anybody in the West reading the new declaration? (Oct. 19, 2005)

Dr. Frist's Dilemma | The Majority Leader's contradictions mirror the opinions of the public at large. (Oct. 11, 2005)

Cloning Still Haunts California | Remember Prop. 71? Stem-cell research supporters hope voters don't remember the promises they made. (Oct. 5, 2005)

Leon Kass, a Bioethics Legend, Steps Down | The man who led the President's Council on Bioethics brought protests from the industry and directed groundbreaking studies. (Sept. 21, 2005)

A Manufactured Womb of One's Own | The commodification of children and an admission of stem-cell hype. (Sept. 8, 2005)

The Stem-Cell Conspiracy | The Washington Post muddles a major breakthrough in adult stem-cell research, while the U.K. marches blindly on. (Aug. 29, 2005)

Britain Leads the (Wrong) Way | Embryos to be screened for cancer risk, "danger genes." (Aug. 17, 2005)

Brave New Puppy | Introducing our new life ethics weblog. (Aug. 10, 2005)

More CT articles on bioethics are available on our Life Ethics page.

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November (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49