Now that celebrated cloning pioneer Hwang Suk Woo has stepped down as leader of South Korea' s Stem Cell Hub after allegedly faking the results of his stem cell research, will there be fallout for nanotech research and development? Dr. Hwang claimed to have created the first cloned human cells, an assertion now extremely suspect after investigators found he had faked the creation of stem cell lines and made false reports in his work published by Science magazine. Last summer he went onstage with " Snuppy " , which he claimed to be the first cloned dog, also a product of his lab. Snuppy is now the subject of blood tests to determine the authenticity of that claim. These alleged achievements brought Dr. Hwang fame, and are making his fall a very public affair.

As Elizabeth Rosenthal writes in a recent front-page article on Hwang' s fall in the New York Times, " While such high profile tactics have helped bring science center stage, many critics are complaining that they fundamentally distort the slow, boring scientific method that for centuries has insured the quality of research. In a world where top scientists are increasingly celebrities and millionaires, they said, the limelight can corrupt judgment. "

" Eternal fame is a big motivator, " said University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Arthur Caplan in a similar front-page Wall Street Journal article. " Cloning remains a biological process with an almost mythical status, " the article goes on to say, " a process long believed impossible but that may unlock the secrets of aging and reproduction. Like fusion in a bottle or perpetual-motion machines, it has drawn both kooks and ambitious scientists. "

Sounds a bit like nanotechnology, doesn' t it? The fact is that any new technology with the potential to change humanity, which both biotech and nanotech certainly have, is going to draw some extremists, some exaggerations, and some oversights. And many advocates of nanotechnology worry that its benefits may be held back if one slipup in scientific procedures or regulation creates a big problem with a lot of publicity.

So far, the nanotech race has yet to produce a researcher as flamboyant and ambitious as Dr. Hwang. That' s probably a good thing, because given the nature of today' s media, a single personality can come to represent an entire field, (Dr. Hwang in cloning, Bill Gates in computing, Frank Gehry in architecture). A quick survey of the newsstands reminds us that people love to see other people taken down, and a case like Dr. Hwang' s could set back the beneficial work of many people in the field of nanotechnology.

The benefits of nanotechnology are real, and many of them are already available to the public. Let' s take care to ensure that the work is good, the products are safe, and that the whole world, regardless of economic or social status, can enjoy the results. (AP photo)