- Stem cell experts gathered at CNU for the Symposium on July 22 - Prof. Moon Shin-yong, Prof. Lee Byong-chon, and Prof. Oh Il-hwan attending Korean stem cell researchers gathered at CNU to attend the symposium of ‘the recent trends of stem cell research.” The Animal Medical Institute of CNU, Testing Vaccine R&D Agency, and Medical & Life Science Human Power Promotion Agency hosted the symposium under the title of ‘Recent trends of stem cell research’ at Yongbong Hall of International Conference Bldg. at 9:50 a.m. on July 22. Korean scientists have also pioneered studies of adult stem cells, the parent cells capable of growing into other cells and found in the grown bodies or umbilical cord blood. Most of Korean stem cell researchers attended the Symposium on Stem Cell Research, which provided an opportunity to exchange information about the international situation and future outlook of stem cell research with 19 scientists from Korea presenting their papers. In particular, Prof. Moon Shin-yong, called as a Korean pioneer of stem cell research along with Prof. Hwang Woo-seok, gave a lecture on ‘The trends of Korean embryonic stem cell research’. Moon is taking charge of Korean Stem Cell Research Center as director, which is supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology for promoting the government’s 21st Frontier Project. Prof. Lee Byong-chon, taking charge of the Prof. Hwang Woo-seok research team at Seoul National University, talked on ‘The establishment of human embryonic stem cell derived from a patient’s somatic cell and its applications.’ Prof. Oh Il-hwan, director of the Institute of Cell and Gene Therapy of the Catholic Medical Center (CMC), a hospital of affiliated with the Medical School of the Catholic University of Korea, delivered a speech on ‘The application of stem cells derived from blood-forming system.’ Some scientists including Prof. Moon Shin-yong had an interview. “Korean scientists are leading the technology of controlling functional differentiation of stem cells” Prof. Moon Shin-yong, director of Korean Stem Cell Research Center, introduced young scientists, Prof. Yoon Hyun-soo and Prof. Han Ho-jae, at the symposium. Prof. Moon Shin-yong from Seoul National University, director of Korean Stem Cell Research Center, Prof. Yoon Hyun-soo from Hanyang University, and Prof. Han Ho-jae from CNU had an interview with press. They attended the symposium on stem cell research in Korea, held at CNU. “The first international stem cell research has started in 1998 and only 20-30 percent of the researches have been conducted. In Korea, we started stem cell research in 2002, when the Korean Stem Cell Research Center was established. Recently, we are focusing on developing the technology to control the functional differentiation of stem cells,” said Moon. “We use a technique to produce stem cells that are genetic matches of patients with certain disorders and illnesses. In addition to paving the way toward transplant therapies that overcome the problem of immune rejection, our work shows great potential to provide scientists with disease-specific cells that can accelerate research on puzzling diseases,” addressed Moon about the issues. Prof. Yoon said, “We sell government-approved cell lines ($6,000 per vial) for foreign researchers, but we provide them for free for Korean research team in order to promote their research activities,” “Even though the government, on some occasions, supported the study on embryonic stem cells or cloning of somatic cells, this is the first support for study on adult stem cells. Through this project, I hope to propose alternative answers to ethical and social controversies related to stem cell study conducted at home and abroad,” Moon emphasized. “I found Chonnam National University is making utmost efforts to develop this study sector. It surely obtains great success in the near future,” Moon added. Prof. Han Ho-jae said, “Through this symposium, we expect CNU lays a foundation for stem cell research in this region and CNU will play a major role to lead the stem cell research in Korea.”