Disgraced SKorean cloning scientist convicted in connection with fraudulent claims

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Disgraced cloning expert convicted in SKorea

SEOUL, South Korea — A disgraced South Korean scientist who falsely claimed to have achieved major breakthroughs in stem cell research was convicted Monday of charges connected to his research and faced sentencing later in the day.

Hwang Woo-suk, 56, was charged with accepting funds under false pretenses, embezzling and illegally buying human eggs for his research, which carry a total maximum penalty of life in prison. It was not immediately clear which charges he was convicted of.

Prosecutors have demanded a four-year prison term for the man once hailed as a national hero for his purported scientific breakthroughs. Sentencing was due to take place later Monday at Seoul Central District Court.

In 2004, Hwang and former colleagues at Seoul National University claimed in a paper published in the journal Science that they had created the world’s first cloned human embryos — and had extracted stem cells from them.

Stem cell research is highly sensitive, and Hwang had been the only South Korean scientist allowed to carry out studies on the master cells that scientists say could lead to revolutionary cures for hard-to-treat diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

A year later, Hwang’s team also claimed in the journal that they had created human embryonic stem cells genetically matched to specific patients, a purported breakthrough that promised a way to withstand rejection by a patient’s immune system.

However, a university committee declared that the 2005 paper was based on faked data, and cast doubt on his 2004 findings as well. The journal Science retracted both papers.

The South Korean government stripped him of the license to carry out stem cell research in 2006, citing “ethical problems.” Hwang was charged later that year.