S Korean scientist apologises for "research fraud"

It's Hwang's first comment after a panel from Seoul's National University found that claimed breakthroughs in the professor's stem cell research had been faked. Prosecutors have raided his home.


Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The disgraced South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk has apologised for using fraudulent data in now discredited scientific papers but he says his efforts may have been interfered with by other researchers.

Dr Hwang has made his first comments after a panel from Seoul's National University found that claimed breakthroughs in the professor's stem cell research had been faked.

Dr Hwang has apologised, saying he takes full responsibility for the fabricated data on which the claims were based.

He has renewed claims that the research may have been tampered with, and is calling for further investigations.

Prosecutors have today raided Dr Hwang's home in southern Seoul as part of their investigations into the fraud.

A government panel has also stripped Professor Hwang of public funding and revoked his title as the nation's top scientist.