Korea

Funding for stem cell research and animal cloning receives high priority. The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) are the major funding bodies for stem cell research in Korea. The total government funding for stem cell research in 2005 is US$17.7 million (US$7.4 million from MOHW). The following are details of annual funding by MOST (1 & 2) and MOHW (3):

1. 21C Frontier Program: Stem Cell Research Centre (US$9.8million)
2. Dr Hwang's Team, Seoul National University (US$ 2.95million)
3. Institute of Cell and Gene Therapy (US$ 1.4million) : Established in 2001 by MOHW, chaired by Prof Il-whan Oh, Catholic Research Institute of Medical Science. Its research interests are molecular regulation of stem cell and stem cell gene therapy. It is a 6-year programme.

In addition, under the MOST's new funding programme for the nation's top scientist, Dr Hwang will receive funding of US$2.95 million per annum for the next five years from 2005 as designated top scientist in Korea. Additional funding, US$ 2.46 million has been given to Dr Hwang from MOST for production of transgenic cloned pig for the use of organ transplantation. In addition, after announcing the epoch-making feat in Feb 2004, Dr Hwang became an icon in Korea's scientific community and both public and private supporters have cropped up. Since then, Korean supporters for Dr Hwang contributed US$ 1.18 million.

MOST launched the 21st Century Frontier R&D Programme in 1999 to develop scientific and technological competitiveness in newly emerging areas. One of the programs, the stem cell research centre was established in July 2002, and financial support will accumulatively amount to US$149.4 million by 2012. Out of US$149.4 million, government subsidies will account for US$121.9, with the remainder coming from the private sector. The centre aims to discover over 100 kinds of factors which induce stem cell differentiation and more than 10 kinds of functional methods of cell differentiation by 2012 for therapeutic purposes. Dr Moon Shin-yong, one of the two leaders of the Seoul National University Research Team, is the chair of the centre. Dr Hwang is also taking part in the centre's work.

The Government is strongly backing Dr Hwang's research. It will increase the budget geared toward financially underpinning Hwang's stem cell research by US$1 million to US$2.95 million this year. By the end of 2005, Korean government will invest US$ 24.1 million in building Dr Hwang's new research lab. Notably, in order to make the Korea as a global hub for stem cell research, the government has endorsed a plan to open an international stem cell bank by the end of this year.

The Government also supports Dr Hwang's attempt to spearhead a global stem cell initiative, a support team will be set by the state-run Korea Science and Engineering Foundation. It will support international collaboration and manage intellectual property rights on stem cell research.

Scientists in Korea lead the world with their expertise in therapeutic cloning. In February 2004, Professor Hwang and Moon's team at Seoul National University announced the cloning of human embryos, from which stem cells were harvested, for the first time in history. They successfully transferred DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid, the material that carries a person's genetic code) to a batch of 242 eggs donated by 16 women. The scale of his research lab is extremely impressive, described as 'the closest that stem cell research will ever come to a production line'. A large team with 60 talented researchers perform approximately 1,200 nuclear transfers per day, and have produced a number of impressive results.

Professor Hwang and his team from Seoul National University announced the creation of the first ever cloned dog in Seoul on 4 August 2005. 43 members of Professor Hwang's team isolated 11 stem cell lines that match the genetic code of patients with a variety diseases. The journal Science reported their study on 19th May 2005. Hwang's team carried out the cloning technique on both sexes, ranging from a two year old infant to a 56 year old adult. Eight males and three females participated in the process, three of them afflicted by Type 1 diabetes, chronic granulomatous disease and a spinal cord related ailment. The team needed 242 donated human eggs to successfully clone one batch of human embryonic stem cells in 2004, representing a success rate of 0.4 percent. In the latest research, the success rate was 15 times higher or about 6 percent, with the team using 185 human eggs to create 11 batches of human embryonic stem cells. The study was hailed as a giant step toward cultivating stem cells to repair or replace diseased organs, severed spinal cords, or brain cells destroyed by diseases such as Alzheimer's.

Korea was pushed to the forefront of the debate on human cloning with the announcement in February 2004 that scientists in Korea had created human embryos using cloning procedures and had succeeded in producing human embryonic stem cell cells from a cloned embryo. Korea is in a dynamic phase in regard to stem cell research, as regulation seeks to catch up with scientific progress.

Korea is moving towards a position recognisably similar to that in the UK, at least at the level of formal regulation. The 'Life Ethics Law' of 29 January 2004 strictly prohibits reproductive cloning under any circumstances, subject to criminal sanctions for up to ten years in prison. However, the government will approve limited research on SCNT based on the guidelines drawn up by the National Ethics Committees. These provisions came into effect in January 2005. The original report in 2004 provoked criticism of procedures for donor consent in Korea. Eggs were taken for the original study from 16 unpaid female volunteers. It was later reported that two of these volunteers were junior members of the laboratory conducting the study. This was subsequently denied by the team, but the impression had been created in the West that the ethical basis of egg donation might not be compatible with internationally recognised standards. Korean researchers insisted that the ethos among Koreans promotes public donation for the common good, in a fashion not seen in western countries. Consequently, access to donated eggs or embryos was not seen as a problem in Korea.

Like the UK, nuclear transfer and subsequent implantation of cloned human blastocysts is not permitted in Korea.

All of the major centres in Korea showed strong level of interest in the opportunity for collaborative interaction with UK-based academic and commercial organisations during UK global watch stem cell mission's visit to Korea in Sept 2004. The quality and international standing of UK-based organisations was clearly recognised as an asset through which to advance both a local competitive advantage and also to gain access to international activity and markets in the field. Furthermore, Korea is on the same position on human cloning and stem cell policy as UK in the UN debate, in support of therapeutic cloning.

Bridging the East-West cultural gap is likely to be a greater challenge for individuals and organisations wishing to collaborate with Korea. Assistance should be sought from government agencies and specialist third parties who are experienced in facilitating interaction.

Despite significant investment and an increasing number of very skilled and motivated research teams in Korea, there still appears to be a lack of experienced scientists in this area. Under these circumstances, foreign-trained researchers are encouraged to return to home. Nevertheless, some young Korean scientists, who studied in the UK, appear to be keen to work at leading UK laboratories to expand their experience. An international stem cell bank will be established in Korea with a global network. It is forecasted that Korea will become a hub by supplying the results of stem cell research to patients world-wide, dominating the global markets for related products and applications.

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