In the midst of the recent "mad cow disease" controversy in South Korea -- which was piqued by President Lee Myung-bak conceding to importing previously banned beef from the US -- counter-experts are sprouting up in several key Internet sites with opinions that counter official government announcements.

This phenomenon is similar to what happened during the Hwang scandal -- a controversy over the alleged stem-cell research breakthrough. These (typically young) scientists are highly capable of writing scientifically-accurate explanations for the lay public, which proves to be a highly effective way of undermining the conventional accounts. This has had spectacular effects, especially since the formal scientific societies have been quiet about the controversies at hand.

The prevalent use of Internet in South Korea during the last decade was one of the key context in which these "citizen scientists" could emerge.

This leads to the rapid deconstruction of the authority of scientific "experts," as the public is able to see the debate between scientists before it reaches a closure.