They claimed that they had developed a technique whereby new, perfect stem cells could be cloned from ordinary ones. This was big news, for it implied that sufficient numbers of stem cells could be made without controversy, thus allowing anyone to be able to do quality research while avoiding what US President George W. Bush described as “taking a life to save a life.”
在更大的竞赛中还有许多较小的竞赛，它们争取取得更早一点和印象深刻的结果。2005年5月，黄禹锡在汉城的研究中心报告了第一项重大成就。他们宣称，他们已经开发了一项新的技术，可以从普通的干细胞中克隆出完美的干细胞。这是重大新闻，因为这预示足够量的干细胞可以无需争议而获得，这样就可以让任何人做高质量的研究而避免美国总统布什所描述的“为了挽救一个生命而夺去另一个生命”。