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Prof. Hwang Woo-suk wants to set up an international group of leading scientists to systematically cultivate embryonic stem cell cloning technology, which has become the Holy Grail of the global bioengineering world. Hwang plans to bring together scientists including Great Britain¡¯s Dr. Ian Wilmut, who cloned the sheep Dolly, and members of Harvard University Medical School. He wants teams to focus on stem cell therapy for incurable diseases like spinal paralysis, diabetes, Lou Gehrig's Disease and myocardial infarction.
¡°I¡¯ve received about 30 joint research offers from renowned stem cell researchers from around the world,¡± said Hwang, who on Friday published groundbreaking research on the cloning of matching stem cells from skin cells of diseased patients. Hwang said he was enthusiastic about the proposals. ¡°To advance the practical use of stem cell research, institutes with know-how in their particular sectors need to cooperate,¡± he said. ¡°I plan to have multiple research institutes working on one item.¡±
Since it is unclear how such international groups would establish their intellectual property rights, an advisory team of U.S. lawyers will be put together. Presidential science and technology advisor Park Gi-young said, ¡°We plan to subsidize the international legal fees through Korea Science and Engineering Foundation contributions to boost the added value of technology copyrights.¡±
Meanwhile, the government has promised almost unlimited support to Hwang¡¯s research. ¡°From last year¡¯s support of W6.5 billion (about US$6.5 million), we are increasing funding to about W26.5 billion, including W24.5 billion to set up research zones and build infrastructure and W2 billion in research fees,¡± the Ministry of Science and Technology said. The ministry has named Hwang as its ¡°top scientist¡± and is giving him assistance of some W3 billion annually over the next four years. Hwang¡¯s sponsorship association has also been conducting fund-raising activities. As of late April, it had collected W1.14 billion to be used in patents applications.
(Kim Cheol-jung, doctor@chosun.comScience )
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