Dr. Hwan Woo-suk, producing genetically matched stem cells from cloned human embryos.
South Korean scientist Dr. Hwan Woo-suk could present no evidence at all to corroborate his landmark research on producing genetically matched stem cells from cloned human embryos, a Seoul university panel announced Thursday.
The announcement by the panel from Seoul National University suggested that Hwang fabricated all the research published in the journal Science, the New York Times reported.
"So far we could not find any stem cells regarding Dr. Hwang's 2005 paper that genetically match the DNA of patients," said Roe Jung Hye, the university's dean of research affairs, in a statement. "According to our judgment, Dr. Hwang's team doesn't have scientific data to prove that it has produced such stem cells."
The latest revelation added more skepticism to Hwang's claim that he had the technology to clone human embryos and extract stem cells from them, which would be a breakthrough in the quest to help patients with hard-to-treat diseases produce their own tissues.
There was no immediate comment from Hwang, who apologized last week for falsifications in his paper and resigned from the university, the newspaper reported.
The university committee investigating allegations of fabrications had said last week that Hwang falsified data for 9 of the 11 patient-derived embryonic stem cell lines in his June paper. Of the remaining two lines, the panel had said it did not yet know whether they had been derived from patients or from fertilized human eggs.
In its follow-up report Thursday, the committee, citing extensive DNA tests, said that none of the stem cells Hwang said he had created was produced through cloning. All the samples presented for the paper that still exist in his laboratory were stem cells extracted from fertilized human eggs at Seoul's MizMedi Hospital, which participated in the research, Roe said.
Apparently anticipating such an outcome, Hwang had claimed that his authentic stem cells were stolen from his lab and were replaced with MizMedi samples, the Times said.
The panel is still investigating Hwang's 2004 research on cloning and the authenticity of what he claimed in August was the world's first cloned dog.
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The announcement by the panel from Seoul National University suggested that Hwang fabricated all the research published in the journal Science, the New York Times reported.
"So far we could not find any stem cells regarding Dr. Hwang's 2005 paper that genetically match the DNA of patients," said Roe Jung Hye, the university's dean of research affairs, in a statement. "According to our judgment, Dr. Hwang's team doesn't have scientific data to prove that it has produced such stem cells."
The latest revelation added more skepticism to Hwang's claim that he had the technology to clone human embryos and extract stem cells from them, which would be a breakthrough in the quest to help patients with hard-to-treat diseases produce their own tissues.
There was no immediate comment from Hwang, who apologized last week for falsifications in his paper and resigned from the university, the newspaper reported.
The university committee investigating allegations of fabrications had said last week that Hwang falsified data for 9 of the 11 patient-derived embryonic stem cell lines in his June paper. Of the remaining two lines, the panel had said it did not yet know whether they had been derived from patients or from fertilized human eggs.
In its follow-up report Thursday, the committee, citing extensive DNA tests, said that none of the stem cells Hwang said he had created was produced through cloning. All the samples presented for the paper that still exist in his laboratory were stem cells extracted from fertilized human eggs at Seoul's MizMedi Hospital, which participated in the research, Roe said.
Apparently anticipating such an outcome, Hwang had claimed that his authentic stem cells were stolen from his lab and were replaced with MizMedi samples, the Times said.
The panel is still investigating Hwang's 2004 research on cloning and the authenticity of what he claimed in August was the world's first cloned dog.
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