SEOUL - Disgraced South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk was found guilty by a Seoul court yesterday of embezzling from his stem cell research fund and illegally buying human embryos.
The court also ruled that Hwang, 56, who became a national hero after he claimed to be the first to successfully clone human stem cells, had partially fabricated the results of his research. He was given a two-year sentence that was suspended provided he stays out of trouble with the law for the next three years.
“He feels deeply sorry that this case elicited so much criticism in the scientific field and shocked the public. . . . His wrongdoing is not minor but does not merit the severe punishment of a prison sentence,’’ the Seoul Central District Court said in the verdict.
Immediately after Hwang disclosed the surprising findings in his stem cell research in 2004, many medical experts and patients hoped that the breakthrough might lead to remedies for diseases such as cancer.
The South Korean government touted him as a national hero and announced plans to set up a committee to promote Hwang for a Nobel Prize. Time magazine named him as one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2004. The next year, Hwang’s team of scientists at Seoul National University created Snuppy, the first known cloned dog.
But a local television report raised ethical questions about the human eggs used for his research, and eventually his two published papers on the research were found to be fabricated.
As suddenly as he gained fame, he became embroiled in scandal.
Hwang made a public apology and eventually was fired from his professorship at the university.
In 2006, prosecutors charged him with fraud and embezzlement of more than $700,000.
