牽手和分手來自同一雙手

Cloning expert Hwang Woo-suk had faced criticism of his research, but maintained he would vindicated.

However Seoul National University panel said it was "intentionally fabricated", and Dr Hwang would be disciplined.

His other cloning research on dogs and humans would also be investigated, the panel said.

The controversy has been causing shockwaves in South Korea, where the cloning pioneer is widely considered a national hero.

Since 2002, he has received $40m in grants from the science and technology ministry alone.

Only two sets

In May, Dr Hwang published a paper in the journal Science, saying his team had identically matched the DNA of 11 patients with material cloned from human embryos.

It was claimed the technique could one day provide cures for a range of diseases including diabetes and Parkinson's.

But the university panel said that all 11 sets of data were derived from only two stem cell lines.

The experts said that Dr Hwang divided a patient's cells into two test tubes for analysis, instead of matching cloned cells to the patient's original cells.

"Based on these facts, the data in the 2005 Science paper cannot be some error from a simple mistake, but cannot be but seen as a deliberate fabrication to make it look like 11 stem-cell lines using results from just two," the investigators said.

"Professor Hwang admitted to having played a role in extending the data of the two stem cell lines to those of 11 stem cells," said Roh Jung-hye, the university's dean of research affairs, told a news conference.

Dr Hwang had come under pressure when one of the co-authors of his paper, Roh Sung-il, said that the pictures illustrating it, apparently showing the 11 patient-specific stem cell lines, had been faked.

Last week, Dr Hwang admitted the photographs did contain "mistakes", but insisted the research was accurate and that he had cloned 11 stem cell lines.

The panel did not rule on the accuracy of the research on the two stem cells lines which had been produced by Dr Hwang's team. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4554422.stm