SEOUL - South Korea's president vowed on Monday a series of regulatory reforms to helpregain its place as a stem cell research powerhouse, trying to reclaim momentum five yearsafter a cloning scandal.
President Lee Myung-bak said that by breathing new life into the industry, it could become"core new growth engine" for Asia's fourth biggest economy along the same lines as itslucrative IT sector.
"Just a decade ago, Korea took the lead in stem cell research in the world along with the UnitedStates," Lee said in a bi-weekly radio address.
"Unfortunately, there was a disappointing incident, which caused inevitable damage to theentire stem-cell research community in Korea," Lee said, referring to the scandal involving thepre-eminent scientist, Hwang Woo-suk.
South Korea had once been considered a global leader in human embryonic stem cell researchuntil review boards said in 2005 that the team led by Hwang had manipulated key data in itsstudies on cloning stem cells, sparking a fraud case that shook the global scientific community.
As a result of the scandal, South Korea all but put stem cell research into the deep freeze.
Lee said the lapse had allowed other countries such as the United States, Japan, Britain andChina to get the jump on South Korea, depriving the country of valuable revenue.
"While we were faltering in our quest for stem cell research, other nations streamlined theirregulations and aggressively expanded their investments in research," he said.
"Core growth engine"
Lee said the government would invest nearly 100 billion won ($90 million) in stem cell researchnext year and that it would reform related regulations to make clinical and licensing procedureseasier.
He said the reforms would help the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) and otheragencies "to ensure that they proactively adapt to the changes in the internationalenvironment".
"The government has decided to foster the stem cell industry as a core new growth enginefollowing the footsteps of the IT industry," he said.
Stem cells are the body's master cells and the source of all cells and tissues. Because of theirability to generate different types of cells and multiply and self-renew, scientists hope toharness them to treat a variety of diseases and disorders, including cancer and diabetes, andinjuries.
Stem cell research is "very rewarding and significant in that it can give hope to those who sufferfrom rare and intractable diseases," Lee said.
"In addition, from a business perspective, it can be said to be a high-value-added industry.
"This field is new and offers infinite room for advancement, and how well we manage at thisinitial stage will make an enormous difference down the road. The country should now set itseyes on emerging as a stem cell powerhouse."
The government will create a national stem cell bank for use to produce, preserve and supplystem cells to various researchers in the country on a stable basis, Lee added.
In July, the KFDA approved stem cell medication in the form of a treatment for heart attackvictims for the world's first clinical use.
That Hearticellgram-AMI treatment, developed by FCB-Pharmicell, signalled the country's firstsalvo to put research in the field back on the frontline.
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