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Stem cell big shots will gather in Korea to attend the Seoul Symposium on Stem Cell Research, an international event taking place Aug. 25-26 at Yonsei University.
A total of 21 scientists from five nations the United States, Britain, Australia, Japan and Korea _ will be present, including Moon Shin-yong, professor at Seoul National University, and Hal Broxmeyer of Indiana University.
Moon, who co-led the first cloning of embryonic human stem cells in 2003 with Professor Hwang Woo-suk of Seoul National University, will speak on the development of therapeutic cloning tomorrow. Broxmeyer, the world-renowned researcher of blood cell production, will give a lecture on the mobilization and homing of blood stem and progenitor cells.
Broxmeyer made his name by finding stem cells in umbilical cord blood and transplanting them into leukemia patients in the late 1980s for the first time in history. Hwang, who participated in last year"s symposium, will not take part in the third edition of the annual event because of a scheduled overseas business trip.
In addition to the high-profile researchers" lectures, the two-day symposium will feature wide-ranging topics on both embryonic and adult stem cells. The opening day will have three sessions to discuss embryonic and adult stem cells in general as well as their differentiation study. The second day will hold four sessions on more specific areas.
Stem cells, which have the ability to become regular cells or develop into organs and tissues, are today"s buzzword in the world"s medical community thanks to its exponential therapeutic potential. Professor Kim Dong-wook of Yonsei University, who is in charge of organizing the symposium, said the event has two goals _ raising the standard of Korean stem cell research to the globally competitive one and gathering ethnic Koreans in emerging fields together.
"One general misconception among Koreans is that the nation is leading the world in stem cell research. We do in certain parts of embryonic stem cells but actually we are lagging far behind in most stem cell segments," Kim said.
Furthermore, the Seoul symposium brings many Korean stem cell experts like Professor Yoon Young-sup of Tufts University, Professor Choi Kyung-hee of Washington University and Professor Kim Seung of Stanford University.
"In the long run, ethnic Korean stem cell scientists may be able to forge a global network to carry out joint research. To achieve the target, this event will play a crucial role," Kim said.