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A Seoul National University committee investigating research results by
Prof. Hwang Woo-suk on Wednesday questioned a close collaborator of the
cloning expert��s who last week claimed none of Hwang��s patient-specific
stem cells exist, and the TV producer whose investigative program
ignited the current controversy. Besides MizMedi Hospital chief Roh
Sung-il and MBC producer Han Hak-soo, the panel also questioned Prof.
Moon Shin-yong of the university��s Medical School. Prof. Yoon Hyun-soo of Hanyang University, who returned to Korea
on Tuesday, spoke with the committee for four hours. The MizMedi chief,
Moon and Yoon all contributed to a paper on cloning embryos from
somatic cells published in the journal Science last year, and will have
been able to shed light on whether the stem cells Hwang says he
extracted from cloned embryos existed. Han Hak-soo, who produces the ��PD Diary�� current affairs
program that ran a controversial expose of Hwang, was called at 7 p.m.
on Wednesday and reportedly grilled about how he came by the materials
he used in his broadcasts, and about the program��s charge that Hwang
fabricated results. Kim Sun-jong, a Hwang team member who was
dispatched to Pittsburgh to work with the research team led by Prof.
Gerald Schatten there, is reportedly returning to Korea sooner than
planned. Once stem cells Hwang says he kept for cross-checking have
been thawed and cultured, the panel will commission three expert
institutes to analyze their DNA fingerprints to see if they match
patients��. ��We have requested an interview with the person in the
National Institute of Scientific Investigation responsible for DNA
fingerprint analysis for Hwang��s team and have also asked Hanyang
University to set up a meeting with professors concerned,�� the
committee said. The panel has moved the press conference where it will give its interim report from Thursday to 11 a.m. Friday.
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