A former colleague of embattled South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk said yesterday he has asked his university to widen its investigation into the stem cell researcher's work and review earlier purported breakthroughs.
Moon Shin-yong, who played a key role in Hwang's research, said that he asked Seoul National University to investigate Hwang's paper published last year in the journal Science that showed his team created the world's first cloned human embryos and extracted stem cells from them.
"In the scientific community, when one paper is proven to be fabricated, it is customary to review all related papers," Moon said in a telephone interview, adding he "currently doesn't know" if there is any problem with the article.
Moon, a Seoul National University professor, was to be questioned by the university yesterday afternoon.
The university also questioned Roh Sung-il, Hwang's former collaborator who has raised a series of allegations against the researcher's breakthroughs on patient-matched embryonic stem cells published in May in Science.
In his latest allegation on Tuesday, Roh said he provided more than 900 eggs to Hwang -- far more than the researcher said he received. Hwang claimed in the article that he used just 185 human eggs to create custom-made embryonic stem cells for 11 patients, winning international acclaim for his cloning efficiency. In the paper published last year, Hwang said it took 242 eggs to grow just one batch of stem cells.
"I will cooperate sincerely with the investigation," Roh said as he arrived yesterday at Seoul National University for questioning, Yonhap news agency reported.
Roh, head of Seoul's Mizmedi Hospital, declined comment to reporters as he left after about two hours of questioning.
Roh has previously claimed that Hwang faked at least nine of the 11 stem cell lines.
The nine-member investigation panel, which launched its probe on Sunday, plans to give an interim report on its investigation tomorrow.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers called into question the future of government funding for Hwang's research.
"It is problematic for the government to go ahead with its next-year budget plan for professor Hwang's research" when the veracity of the scientist's work is being questioned, Kim Seong-hee, vice spokesman for the minor opposition Democratic Labor Party, said yesterday.
The government has earmarked 20.5 billion won (US$20 million) for Hwang's research next year, the party said, citing government data. Since 1998, the government has given nearly 66 billion won for Hwang's work, it added.
"The government should either reduce its budget for Hwang's questionable research or reorganize the budget for areas more urgently needed," Kim said.
Hwang, a veterinarian, said last week he had asked Science to withdraw the May article -- one of two he has published in the scientific journal -- after he acknowledged that at the time it was published his team had only created eight stem cell lines.
He has, however, maintained his research is genuine and said tests will show his team has the technology to grow the embryonic stem cells which can be manipulated to grow into any body tissue. Scientists hope that such a development could eventually lead to tailor-made treatments for individual patients with hard-to-cure or degenerative ailments, such as paralysis or Parkinson's disease.
Last month, Hwang admitted that he used eggs from two female scientists in his lab in violation of ethics guidelines. He then stepped down as head of the World Stem Cell Hub, an international project launched in October and aimed at finding treatments for incurable diseases.
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