Until a couple of months ago, Woo Suk Hwang was riding a wave of adulation — and at times scientific envy — over his lab's achievements in the field of stem cells and cloning. Trained as a veterinarian, Hwang led the research team behind the first cloned dog, an Afghan hound named Snuppy.

But his work with human embryonic stem cells created even more buzz: Back in 2004, Hwang's team announced that they had successfully brought a cloned human embryo far enough along to extract stem cells — the type of cell that has the most capacity to regenerate worn-out or damaged body tissues.

In May of this year, Hwang announced that he was able to go even further by customizing stem cells with the genetic coding from donors who suffered from spinal-cord injury or other maladies. The cloning achievement heightened the debate over U.S. competitiveness in stem cell research, as well as ethical questions raised by the prospect of human cloning.

Even then, there was yet another ethical issue hanging in the background: allegations that some of Hwang's female subordinates had contributed their own eggs to the research effort. That practice would be frowned upon by most scientists, because of fears about subtle coercion to go through a procedure that carries some medical risk.

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Finally, in November, Hwang's chief American collaborator broke with him over what he saw as an ethical breach. South Korean journalists confirmed that junior researchers had indeed donated eggs, though apparently without Hwang's knowledge. It also came out that some women had been paid for their donated eggs — a practice that wasn't illegal at the time but has since been banned in Korea.

Hwang was devastated by the disclosures. After a round of apologies and resignations, he checked himself into a Seoul hospital this week to be treated for exhaustion.

Two fronts in the culture war
The turnabout sparked "we-told-you-so" comments from the opposing side in the culture war over human embryonic stem cell research. Meanwhile, many South Koreans saw the criticism of Hwang as an attack on their own culture. Hundreds attended pro-Hwang rallies outside Korean news outlets, and more than 1,000 women signed up to donate their own eggs in a sign of solidarity.

This week, Scientific American's John Rennie sounded a bit regretful about the fact that the controversy over Hwang broke just as the magazine naming him research leader of the year was going to press. "There's exactly the kind of problem you didn't want to have happen," he told MSNBC.com.

For good or ill, the controversy seems likely to spark a new round of scrutiny over stem cell research, Rennie said.

"What's interesting is that there's a real division of opinion about what all this means," he said. "It shows that we probably need much more international agreement on what the standards for conducting this research are going to be."

The debates surrounding stem cells and cloning weren't the only ones where science ran up against society and politics, of course. The list could extend from A to Z — say, from AIDS to zero population growth. But if we're talking about 2005, these four issues could well round out the year's top five science-related social controversies:

Darwin vs. design: A federal trial in Pennsylvania serves as a forum for the debate over whether public-school science classes should carve out a place for intelligent design, or ID — the idea that some aspects of biology are so complex that they are best explained as the handiwork of a designer. Mainstream scientists make a good showing, and pro-ID school board members are voted out (sparking some doomsaying from televangelist Pat Robertson). Meanwhile, mainstream scientists decide to stay away from the Kansas Board of Education's hearings on teaching evolution — and the board gives a statewide nod to ID.
Wondering about wild weather: As hurricanes pummel the American Southeast, some scientists claim a linkage between global warming and storm intensity, while others scoff. Also during 2005, the Kyoto accord on greenhouse-gas emissions takes effect, while the United States goes its own way. By the end of the year, even some of those who signed the Kyoto pact are having second thoughts about following through on the process.
How far will bird flu fly? A deadly strain of influenza makes the jump from birds to humans, killing scores of people in Asia and setting off alarm bells around the world. Public health officials say the United States is unprepared for a pandemic, but they are also concerned about unjustified panic. Will the crisis sizzle or fizzle? Stay tuned in 2006.
The soul of the brain: The plight of long-comatose patient Terri Schiavo sparks a national debate over end-of-life issues. Scientists use brain-scanning technology to link abstract thought to measurable brain chemistry and blood flow. Some researchers are even implanting human neurons in mouse brains. All these advances potentially raise questions about what it means to be "brain-dead," and what it means to be a thinking human.

The original version of this story mischaracterized the genesis of RealClimate.org. Founding contributors to the Web site include Gavin Schmidt as well as Michael Mann, Stefan Rahmstorf, Rasmus Benestad, Caspar Ammann, Ray Bradley, William Connolley, Eric Steig and Amy Clement.

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