Public Calls for Stricter Ova Regulation

Voices are getting louder over the revision of the bioethics law amid allegations that female researchers of Prof. Hwang Woo-suk's team were forced to donate their ova for stem cell experiments.
Prof. Chung Myung-hee, head of the Seoul National University (SNU) panel investigating Hwang's fabrication of research data, announced Tuesday that a total of 2,061 eggs from 129 females were collected from four hospitals and provided to his team for three years from November 2002.

The key question is whether Hwang's team has violated the bioethics law that took effect in January last year.

The law forbids the trade of sperm and ova for commercial purposes. It stipulates that those offering ovum for a commercial purpose are subject to prison terms of up to three years and those arranging the illegal trade may face imprisonment of up to two years.

In short, if egg-donation takes place voluntarily without commercial benefits, it is not punishable. In addition, those who were involved even in commercial ova trading that took place before 2005 are not subject to any punishment.

Cloning scientist Hwang admitted...