Volume 4, Issue 2

Editorial Both the confidence of the international scientific community and the public hopes risen by stem cell technology were shaken one year ago by what is called the Korean stem cell scandal. The forgery conducted by one of Korea's major scientists led to several fundamental questions. Some of them refer to ethical aspects, while others concern legal facets: Are law and ethics really able to control scientific research in the field of biotechnology and biomedicine ? Which effects are exerted by the ”publish or perish” policy as well as the commercialisation of basic research on the quality of scientific work ? Is the practical relevance of stem cell research overestimated ? Has the relationship between principal researchers and their staff to be reviewed or even controlled according to tightened ethical and legal standards ?

The recent stem cell scandal of fabrication of two papers published in Science by Dr. Hwang Woo Suk shocked the world and devastated the South Korean society. Investigations conducted by the South Korean government have revealed a variety of ethical and regulatory failures. In this paper, I first explain the South Korean regulatory background to research conducted on human subjects in general and on biotechnological research in particular, and then analyze the ethical and regulatory problems affecting the research for the two papers published in 2004 and 2005 by Dr. Hwang's team, respectively. These problems can be summarized as: 1) problems regarding egg donation (lack of informed consent and donation by vulnerable subjects), 2) ambiguous record-keeping of research funding, 3) insufficient reviews by the two local IRBs (an already established IRB and a newly established IRB, both deferred to the principal scientist's heavy-handed influence), 4) too close ties between the research team and government officials, and 5) the National Bioethics Committee's inertia and lack of impartiality.

Introduction Large-scale biobanks of human biological materials linked to medical records are emerging as critical tools in research to tease out the complex interactions between genes and the environment and in ongoing development of diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of human disease. The evidence for this promise is found in the rush to establish these repositories by countries (Australia, UK, Sweden, Estonia, and Singapore), research organizations (NCI biobanks), and patient care groups.

Introduction “What better way to start the new year than with a new you?” comments Liz Dale, Transform's commercial manager, on the recent British fashion to give away cosmetic surgeries for Christmas. Creating a “new you” has become a remarkable development in the western world. In 2005, around 1 500 000 surgical cosmetic procedures have taken place among Americans, and almost 3 300 000 were treated with Botox. In many countries cosmetic surgery is one of the few medical areas which is still profitable. But beauty is just one human characteristic amenable perfecting: the enhancement of mental abilities with drugs has already become a serious problem in universities across the U.S., and the progress of genetic technology might pave the way to create a perfect next generation.

Introduction On 11 January 2007 Vietnam became the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) 150th member. WTO members completed their task on 26 October 2006 by accepting the documents indicating Vietnam's obligations and rights. The documents reached General Council which approved Vietnam's membership on the 7 November 2006. Vietnam informed the WTO on 12 December 2006 that it has ratified its membership agreement, and it thereby became a full member after 30 days of ratifying the agreement, which was on the 11 January 2007.