Where is Hwang Woo-suk Now? We discuss the scientist after the release of the 2023 Netflix documentary film King of Clones.
Despite what you may think of some of the viewing options on Netflix, it is hard to deny that the documentaries that find themselves on the platform are not original and eye-opening.
Netflix has been leading the way with some jaw-dropping and mesmerizing true-life shows and documentaries, and King of Clones is another.
The show explains the fall from the grace of Hwang Woo-suk, a vet and scientist specializing in cloning, leading to claims of bioethical violations regarding his experiments in human cloning.
Prepare yourself for a look into the background of this scandal as we answer the question where is Hwang Woo-suk now?
Who is Hwang Woo-suk?
Hwang was a South Korean veterinarian, and this is where his rise to prominence would begin. Born in 1953, he enrolled in Seoul National University and would raise some eyebrows over three decades back when he claimed to have cloned a cow but did not have much evidence to back the claim up.
The ex-vet would become an expert in stem cell research and would head a team that would go on to clone everything they could, including his pet dog. Eventually, Hwang would publicly announce they had created human embryonic stem cells.
This research into human cloning and its applications in curing many diseases would elevate the scientist to an almost God-like status making Hwang a hero in South Korea.
What did Hwang Woo-suk do?
Hwang Woo-suk would claim to be behind various cloning experiments in scientific magazines. Still, the claims would be disputed, and Hwang would start to see a backlash against his work from other scientific publications that would argue his research was flawed and his work unethical.
Pressure against him would lead to him being accused of using eggs from the black market and his own graduates in his experiments into human cloning.
What happened to Hwang Woo-suk?
He would eventually be charged with bioethics law violations as his claims about his work became public knowledge. After being fired from his position, he received a two-year suspended prison sentence for embezzlement and bioethical offenses.
This kind of research does not come cheap, and there was the question of millions of dollars being invested publicly and privately for his work to continue.
The fraud charge would be dropped, and an appeal court would reduce his suspended sentence by six months.
Where is Dr. Hwang Woo-suk Now?
It might or might not surprise you that Hwang is still very active in cloning. Reports state that he can still be found at the Sooam Bioengineering Research Institute and is presumably still working on cloning pig and cattle embryos, working with stem cells, and other developments.
A partnership with a Chinese biotech company called The Boyalife Group has been formed, with the now seventy-year-old Hwang and his team hoping to open the biggest animal cloning factory in the world.
The aim? To produce millions of cattle embryos so, there’s plenty of beef available for everyone to eat.
I’m sure an episode of Black Mirror is just waiting to happen here.
