South Korea's Health Ministry announces Hwang no longer meets the conditions to conduct stem cell research.

Seoul (AsiaNews/CS) – South Korea's Health and Welfare Ministry yesterday stripped disgraced "cloning pioneer" Hwang Woo-suk of his license to conduct embryonic stem cell research. Henceforth, Hwang will be barred from access to donors' eggs for experiments.

The ministry said the step was inevitable because Hwang had to withdraw a fraudulent 2004 paper on stem cells derived from cloned embryos. Thus Hwang's research no longer meets the conditions for approval under South Korea's Life Ethics Law.

The law stipulates that only those who have conducted research for more than three years and published more than one research paper are eligible for a license to conduct stem cell research from the ministry to carry out embryonic stem cell research.

Hwang's papers published in the journal Science were withdrawn for their inconsistencies. This in turn forced the ministry to conduct an investigation that exposed the fraudulent work of Hwang's team.

The ministry said Seoul National University's Veterinary College maintains its status as a stem cell research institute regardless of the decision to strip Hwang of his license.

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