Jan 10, 2006, 10:08 GMT
Seoul - A university panel investigating disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo Suk said Tuesday that he had falsified data for both of his landmark papers on human stem-cell research but did create the world's first cloned dog.
South Koreans walk past pink ribbons supporting South Korean stem cell pioneer Hwang Woo-suk near the Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, 10 January 2006. The Seoul National University panel investigating disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo Suk said Tuesday that he had falsified data for two landmark papers on human stem-cell research, however, he did create the world‘s first cloned dog. EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
The Seoul National University panel found that Hwang had faked stem cells submitted to Science magazine for a 2004 paper in which he claimed to have achieved the first therapeutic cloning of a human embryo.
Last month, the panel announced that Hwang had fabricated research for his paper published in Science last year on another first: claims of creating stem cells with a patient's specific genetic material that were derived through cloned embryos.
The paper was hailed as a breakthrough in finding treatments for incurable diseases, such as Alzheimer's and diabetes, and the cloning research catapulted the farm boy turned veterinarian into an international scientific superstar and national hero.
But the university investigators said at the close of their one-month investigation that Hwang had neither cloned human embryonic stem cells nor created patient-specific stem cells.
'According to the records of Professor Hwang's research team regarding the stage of cell-line establishment, the scientific bases for claiming any success are wholly lacking,' they said.
But the panel did support Hwang's claim that he cloned the world's first dog, an Afghan hound named Snuppy after the Seoul National University, where Hwang conducted his research.
However, it added that the fabrication of evidence for the other two studies should result in disciplinary action against all the scientists involved in Hwang's research.
'These individuals cannot be regarded to represent science in Korea,' it said.
Investigations into the acclaimed researcher began in November after colleagues charged that Hwang had used human egg cells that were unethically obtained from lab workers and paid donors. They escalated last month after a colleague charged that Hwang had faked the stem cells he said he produced for last year's study.
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