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The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Thursday stripped the disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk of his license to conduct embryonic stem cell research. That will bar Hwang from access to donors¡¯ eggs for experiments.
The ministry said the step was inevitable because Hwang¡¯s team failed to meet the conditions for approval under the Life Ethics Law after withdrawing a fraudulent 2004 paper on stem cells derived from cloned embryos. The Life Ethics Law says only those who have conducted research for more than three years and published more than one research paper are eligible for a license to conduct stem cell research from the ministry to carry out embryonic stem cell research.
Hwang earlier asked the ministry to delay its decision claiming there was a possibility of re-submitting the paper or the journal Science agreeing to republish it. The ministry said Seoul National University¡¯s Veterinary College maintains its status as a stem cell research institute regardless of the decision to strip Hwang of his license.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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