South Korean cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-suk was yesterday admitted to a Seoul hospital suffering from severe fatigue, stress and a sleeping disorder, hospital officials said.
The world-famous scientist has been in seclusion over the past two weeks amid a controversy over ethical lapses in his breakthrough stem-cell research.
The Seoul National University Hospital said that Hwang had lost "considerable" weight, and that his poor health condition would require at least a week's treatment.
"Hwang's health condition has deteriorated due to a sleeping disorder, severe fatigue, stress and dehydration," Dr. Sung Myung-hoon told reporters.
Hwang offered to resign from his official posts on Nov. 24 while apologizing for covering up the fact that two of his junior researchers had donated their own eggs for his breakthrough research.
In February last year, Hwang produced the first stem cells from a cloned human embryo. He followed up in May by producing stem cells genetically matched to specific individuals from cloned embryos.
Stem cells are master cells that experts say can develop into any organ. They could have a valuable therapeutic use in treating illnesses including cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, according to experts.
The scandal over Hwang had snowballed in recent days with Seoul-based broadcaster MBC airing a program on allegations of his ethical breaches and preparing another questioning the authenticity of his research.
But it subsided after MBC apologized for using coercion to obtain information critical of Hwang and suspended the broadcast of a second report which alleges that Hwang's research was fabricated.
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