[KS] Fulbright Forum, Friday August 26, 6:30 P.M.

Dylan S. Davis executive.assistant at fulbright.or.kr
Tue Aug 2 21:57:45 EDT 2005


Fulbright Forum!!

Fulbright in Seoul (the Korean American Educational Commission) is pleased
to invite you to attend the Fulbright Forum for August, which will be held
on Friday, August 26, 2005, at 6:30 p.m. at the Commission offices in Mapo.
The topic is The Ethics and Science of Human Research Cloning in South Korea
and the presenter will be Insoo Hyun, Fulbright  Research Scholar and
Assistant Professor of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School
of Medicine.

Professor Hyun received his BA and MA in philosophy from Stanford University
and his Ph.D. in philosophy from Brown University.  His areas of research
include the global dynamics of embryonic stem cell research and human
research cloning, multicultural issues involving patient autonomy and
informed consent, the ethics of health resource prioritization, and
international public health ethics.  His articles have appeared in the
Hastings Center Report, The Cambridge Quarterly of Health Care Ethics, The
Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, and The Journal of Value Inquiry.

On May 12, 2005, Dr. Woo Suk Hwang and colleagues from Seoul National
University announced in the journal Science that they had used somatic cell
nuclear transfer (SCNT) to produce 11 different patient-specific,
immune-matched human stem cell lines for biomedical research.  While this
astounding advancement in stem cell research has drawn much international
media attention, Professor Hyun argues that the true nature of Dr. Hwang’s
research has been largely misunderstood up to this point.  Through many
personal conversations with Dr. Hwang and key members of his scientific
team, Professor Hyun develops and advances two key claims.

First, he offers scientific reasons for thinking that Hwang’s SCNT
blastocysts are biological artifacts, not true human embryos.  If the
science behind this claim is correct, then Hwang’s SCNT techniques may
generate a completely new category of stem cells: non-embryonic, pluripotent
human stem cells.  (Prior to Hwang et. al, pluripotent stem cells could only
be derived from fertilized embryos.)

Second, the existence of non-embryonic pluripotent human stem cells could
offer a conciliatory alternative in the interminable public debate over
embryonic stem cell research.  Opponents could embrace SCNT as an
alternative source of pluripotent human stem cells without compromising
their own deeply-held beliefs about the destruction of early human embryos.
In light of these two claims, Professor Hyun concludes that the reality of
Hwang’s stem cell research may turn out to be even more exciting than
previously thought.


The presentation will be followed by a buffet reception.  If you plan to
attend the lecture and buffet, please R.S.V.P. to Lee Kee Won at
admin at fulbright.or.kr <mailto:executive.assistant at fulbright.or.kr>  so we
can plan accordingly.  We hope many friends will come to enjoy the lecture,
the discussion, and the food.

Place: Fulbright Building
168-15 Yomni-dong, Mapo-gu
see maps on our website: www.fulbright.or.kr <http://www.fulbright.or.kr/>
Date: Friday, August 26, 2005
Time: 6:30 p.m.

Sincerely,

Jai Ok Shim
Executive Director
Korean American Educational Commission (Fulbright)



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