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Korea’s discredited stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk might not be too happy with the anti-government armed revolt in Libya as he was supposed to sign a sizeable contract with the northern African country.
Sooam Biotech Research Foundation (SBRF) head Hyun Sang-hwan said Tuesday that the institute was scheduled to sign a 30 billion euro deal with Dana Bioscience and Medical Service (DBMS). Hwang is in charge of research at the Seoul-based outfit.
DBMS is linked with the current Libyan government as its establishment involved national security advisor Mutassim Gaddafi, the fourth son of the country’s leader Moammar Gadhafi.
``Hwang was set to sign the agreement with Dana on Feb. 20 in Libya but the ongoing revolt there prevented this,’’ said Hyun, also a professor at Chungbuk National University.
``All details were fixed including the site in Tripoli to found a research lab. State-run Dana, which was set up in 2009 to cooperate with us, agreed to offer 98.5 million euros for embryonic stem cell research over the next five years and 30 billion euros more over the following 25 years.’’
Hyun said Libya was ready to pay that much money because the state regarded the bioengineering business as its next-generation growth engine when oil production tails off.
Libya has strived to build modern clinics with the help of the Korean team, according to Hyun.
``Libya first contacted Hwang in the mid 2000s and he visited the nation about 10 times for collaboration. Dana has already paid 600,000 euros to us. Because the joint work is for the future of Libya, we hope it will be eventually achieved as initially planned,’’ Hyun said.
Hwang who was in Tripoli _ possibly because of the agreement _ was among 198 South Koreans evacuated from Libya on a chartered flight to Cairo late last week in the aftermath of the “Jasmine Revolution” there.
Hwang basked in the global limelight in 2004 and 2005 by claiming to have cloned human embryonic stem cell lines for the first time. The purported exploits were featured in cover stories in the illustrious U.S. journal Science.
But later studies found that Hwang’s team fabricated data and there were no patient-specific stem cells, which were once touted as the breakthroughs to deal with such hard-to-treat diseases as Alzheimer’s or diabetes.
The 58-year-old was indicted on multiple charges of fraud and embezzlement. In last December, an appellate court in Seoul sentenced the embryologist to a suspended prison term.
But the team’s technological edge in dog cloning has been confirmed as the world’s first canine clone dubbed Snuppy was accepted as the real deal. The team has since cloned many dogs at the request of various customers.
“황우석 리비아 계약 47조 원짜리였다”
황우석 박사가 설립한 수암생명공학연구원이 리비아 정부와 지난달 사인하려고 했던 계약의 규모는 1,500억 원이 아니라 47조 원에 달하는 것으로 알려졌다. 리비아 측에서는 석유사업을 대체할 미래 먹거리 산업으로 줄기세포 기술을 유치하기 위해 대규모 투자를 준비했다는 말이다.
수암생명공학연구원장을 맡고 있는 현상환 충북대 수의학교 교수는 1일 코리아타임스와의 전화통화에서 황박사가 리비아와의 합의된 계약 내용에 따르면 향후 5년간 9850만유로(1,500억원)를 지원할 뿐만 아니라 그 이후 25년간 300억유로(46.5조원)을 투자하는 것을 골자로 하고 있었다고 밝혔다.
이미 선금으로 600,000유로(9억원)을 지급하고 2월 20일 본계약에 사인만 하면 되는 상황이었는데 리비아 반정부 시우가 발생해 본계약 체결이 무기한 연기되었다.
리비아 측 계약 당사자인 다나 바이오 사이언스는 무아마르 카다피 리비아 국가 원수 넷째 아들 마아타심이 관여한 기관으로 리비아 정부가 수암과의 연구협력을 위해 2009년 설립했다.
현 교수는 “이번 협력건은 리비아의 정권 안보 차원이 아닌 국가적 미래 먹거리 산업 양성 차원에서 기획된 것인 만큼 향후 리비아 정국이 어떻게 흘러가던 본계약 체결 가능성이 있다”고 밝혔다.
