This is the third in a Prof. Hwang: Moving Heart and Heaven (3) After achieving cloning successes with animals, Seoul National University professor Hwang Woosuk jumped to human stem cell research in 2001, financed by 4 billion won in government funds. The financing came from Korea's telecom businesses that had poured money into getting licenses for a third-generation wireless mobile telephony, called wideband code division multiple access. "We knew human stem cell cloning is far-and-away more difficult than for animals and there was no guarantee of success since even world-renowned scientists struggled to create tangible results back then," the 52-year-old recalled in his biography. "But we decided to brave the risk of failure under the firm belief that only embryonic stem cells can give hope of creating new therapies for hard-to-cure diseases," he wrote. Embryonic stem cells refer to an embryo's primal and undifferentiated cells from which other cell types are derived. They got the name since every single cell in the body "stems" from the selfreplicating ones. Research on the master cells have been billed to hold exponential therapeutic potential as scientists believe people will be able to use them to cure or replace damaged cells in the future. The idea of the revolutionary cell therapy exerts a powerful pull on many scientists like Hwang and patients who have struggled with incurable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Although Hwang was armed with the good intention of helping patients throughout the world, his team continued to suffer setbacks and prospects of getting stem cell lines from cloned embryos seemed to dim. "What plagued us most was the suspicion that establishment of cloned human stem cell is out of the question. When we struggled to clone cows, we believed we would succeed one day since scientists of other countries had already done it," Hwang said. "But for the human embryonic stem cells, we must shoulder the burden of pioneers who should take an unexplored path and once in a while we were frustrated due to continued failures." Stem Cell Breakthrough By early 2003, the world's illustrious embryologists experienced similar strains as they and Hwang started to give up their own stem cell research. Some even concluded it is impossible to grow primate stem cells beyond the eight-cell stage, several steps before the cell divides to an embryo. All the experiments were based on the so-called somatic nuclear cell transfer to clone a somatic cell, a cell other than a sperm or egg cell, to get stem cell lines. In the process, the nucleus of an unfertilized egg is removed and a somatic cell is then put into the emptied egg. The technique has been the basis for harvesting stem cells of animals and cloning animals such as the Dolly the sheep. But for some reason, the method did not work for humans despite seamless efforts from around the world. And scientists finally threw up their hands. Hwang was also on the brink of following suit but his team overcame the stalemate in 2003 with an idea of then 25- year-old doctorate student named Kim Soo. "Eggs of animals are like strong footballs but those of humans are like balloons full of water. Many researchers failed since they tried to apply the animal technologies to human eggs and we should find a new way specific for the brittle human eggs," Hwang said. Traditionally, scientists got rid of the nuclei of human eggs with a vacuum needle, a process that damaged them, unlike strong animal eggs. Instead of using the conventional way, Kim proposed poking a hole in an egg and gently oozing out the nucleus before inserting new one from the cloning candidate's somatic cells. Hwang's team adopted the squeezing method and tried a total of 242 times with human eggs to obtain a single batch of stem cells in February 2003 for the first time in history. Hwang basked in the global limelight by announcing the feat through the U.S. journal Science a year later in February 2004. And scientists around the world, including University of Pittsburgh professor Gerald Schatten, began accepting Hwang's enucleating method. Taking Care of Researchers Hwang heads about 60 researchers in his lab, called the "cloning academy" or the "power plant for cloning," and roughly 60 percent of them were from universities other than Seoul National University (SNU). "When recruiting staff researchers, I don't put any consideration on their educational background since the passion for work should come first," Hwang noted. It is an extraordinary approach in Korea, a country where both the public and private sectors regard a degree from SNU as one of the most important hiring criteria. If Hwang had tilted toward the graduates of SNU, arguably the most prestigious university in Korea, he might not have snapped up Kim Soo, who was from Konkuk University. As a result, the stem cell breakthrough might have been delayed at best and may have been impossible. His egalitarian attitude also applies to foreigners as Hwang's doctorate student Yuda Heru Fibrianto, former veterinary physiology professor at Indonesia's Gadjah Meda University, says. "Hwang has never made me feel like a foreigner. He is my father in Korea because he treated me like his son when I was sick," said the 36-year-old, who came here in 2002. Hwang took on the role of caring parent last year when Yuda collapsed twice due to brain tumors and had to go through dangerous operations. Hwang arranged the best medical team in Korea, led by his colleague professor Ahn Cu-rie, and took care of everything, including hospital fees amounting to more than 10 million won. "About 30 percent of the cost was covered by my insurance and the remaining 70 percent was covered by my bigger insurance, you know professor Hwang," Yuda said with a smile. "It is typical of Hwang to do what it takes for his team. Once he decides to accept someone as his underling, he takes full responsibility for him or her," Ahn said. Encouraged by Hwang's affectionate nature and influenced by his contagious work ethic, the Seoul cloning team continued its attention-grabbing research and made a second-round of success. Earlier last month in London, Hwang stunned the world once again by announcing his team had created 11 human stem cell lines via cloning somatic cells of 11 patients with fatal diseases or disabilities. Future of Stem Cells The bottom line of the achievement is that the team significantly increased cloning efficiency by establishing 11 batches with 185 attempts, compared to just one line from 242 eggs last year. In addition, each of the newly created stem cell lines is genetically identical to one of Hwang's patients so any new tissue derived from that patient's cell line can be injected into that individual without causing an immune reaction. In a nutshell, the customized stem cells opened the door to therapeutic cloning, which has been touted as a futuristic remedy for hard-to-cure diseases. "Let's say there is a cozy room. For you to get there, you have to open a few doors that are shut tight. I opened the first door last year and I opened four more doors this year," Hwang said during a news conference on May 20. Five days later, Hwang hinted that more tangible results are around the corner by saying, "We will push for more progress this year and I hope to lower the curtain of the first act (of the stem cell 'drama') by as early as next autumn." Asked to provide more details, Hwang refused to elaborate. Most experts guess that the end of the first act means discovering a technology for developing stem cell batches into specific cells or organs. "The differentiation technology is a must before starting clinical tests with stem cells. Hwang seems to be on it and if he succeeds, he will be able to start real tests," said Park Se-pill, an embryologist at Seoul-based Maria Biotech. Some roadblocks still lie en route to the eventual success such as the ethical disputes on destroying embryos, which some see as human lives, and the issue of human reproductive cloning. Pro-life groups have contended every advance in cloning embryos would provide technological encouragement of cloning humans to rogue scientists. In response, Hwang countered that stem cell research cannot be held back in consideration of the potential benefits the study is expected to offer to patients and their families. Armed with such philosophy, stem cell king Hwang vows to forge ahead with his research and work around the clock with his faithful team. "The only royal road (to a success) is diligence. Even a fool can do everything if he is diligent enough to commit his heart to moving the heavens," Hwang said.