Fall of the House of Hwang

Word is out that Hwang Woo-Suk's cloning work was faked, according to a panel convened by his (former) employer, Seoul National University. The press release from the University was released on their website today. It is useful to read where the work went wrong, but chilling also because of the possibility that so much of our so-called scientific progress is flim-flammery hidden under fluff. For every big scandal there are probably dozens more smaller fish that evaded the net.

What concerns me, though, is that the panel was so quick in ascertaining Hwang's guilt. One month seems awfully short to do all the tests they did in there, though of course I have no idea how much manpower the panel had at its disposal. As with all matters where emotional investment is at stake (given Hwang's former hero-status in South Korea) there is danger of a witch-hunt, of needing to pin blame and to destroy utterly the blamed in order to blunt the shame of mistaken admiration. There might be, too, an element of professional jealousy involved, given that Hwang dominated the field (and funding) in which the scientists that now make up the panel work in. Could it not be possible that they might find some delicacy in destroying his career, in striking him while he is down?

Regardless of these concerns, though, Hwang's career is over; he might have difficulty even teaching high school science in Korea. It is unlikely that anyone will let him rest in Korea; he would probably have to leave the country to continue his life. In an era where life scientists are seen as the high priests of a rational religion, feted and nourished by the state, which is afraid of angering the gods of that religion by failing to do so, we should not forget that scientists are as human as any one of us, susceptible to the same temptations, tempers, and treachery. It is very tempting to hero-worship someone who does well in something we believe will bring us good fortune, to put him or her on a pedestal and shower him with tributes. But very few people can handle being a hero with good grace. That is the reason why heroes are best taken from antiquity, because we might be crushed when they fall from grace and we are still standing beneath the pedestal looking up, slack-jawed and immobile.