Disgraced South Korean scientist heads back to lab

SEOUL, June 27 (Reuters) Disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk will open a laboratory in Seoul next month to resume his work on animal cloning, and perhaps restart research on human embryonic stem cells, his lawyer said today.

Hwang left his post at Seoul National University in December after an investigation panel said in a preliminary report Hwang's team had deliberately fabricated key data in two papers on embryonic stem cells that were once heralded but now debunked.

Hwang went on trial earlier this month, with prosecutors charging the man once hailed as a national hero with fraud and embezzlement.

Lee Geon-haeng, Hwang's lawyer, said private contributors had provided the funds to put Hwang back into a laboratory.

''It is Dr. Hwang's belief that the only way to reclaim his honour and repay the people who have helped him, and win their forgiveness, is to produce accomplishments in research,'' Lee said by telephone.

Hwang will open a research facility in Seoul and employ many researchers who have worked with him before, Lee said.

Medical researchers have said it will be nearly impossible for Hwang ever to publish again in a major journal because of the fraud perpetrated by his team.

Hwang was indicted last month after prosecutors said he was the mastermind of an elaborate scheme to manipulate research results to make it look like his team had actually produced stem cell lines through cloning human embryos.

If convicted, he could spend several years in jail.

His team's reported breakthroughs in stem cell research had raised hopes because it seemed to hasten the day when genetically specific tissue could be grown from embryonic stem cells to repair damaged organs or treat diseases such as Alzheimer's.

Hwang's team once basked in global acclaim for three landmark achievements that put South Korea at the global forefront of cloning and stem cell research.

His supporters have appealed for Hwang to have one more chance to prove his claims, which he has said were Korean technology.

In a paper published in the periodical Science in 2004, Hwang's team said it had cloned the first human embryo for research. In 2005, Hwang's team published another paper in Science saying it had produced tailored embryonic stem cells.

Science later retracted the papers.

The team last year also said it produced the world's first cloned dog. Dogs are considered one of the most difficult animals to clone because of their reproductive cycle.

The Seoul National University investigation panel concluded Hwang's team did actually clone the dog, an Afghan hound named Snuppy.

REUTERS SHB KP1703