Cloned dogs raised for lifesaving. [Yonhap News Photo]
For the first time in seven years, a private South Korean research group was allowed Monday to use human eggs in extracting stem cells from cloned human embryos, health authorities said.
The green light from the Ministry of Health and Welfare came in response to widespread requests from South Korean scientists to ease tight regulations on human embryonic stem cell research.
The ministry said in a statement that a medical research team at CHA's University was allowed to conduct a five-year research using 600 human eggs to clone human embryos and extract stem cells for treatment of incurable diseases such as cerebral apoplexy and optic nerve damage.
"There are high expectations that the green light will help scientists make a breakthrough in their strenuous efforts to acquire advanced technology for the treatment of incurable diseases," a senior ministry official was quoted as saying in the statement.
South Korea banned the use of human eggs in stem cell research in 2009 after a scandal involving disgraced cloning expert Hwang Woo-suk, who claimed to have extracted stem cells from what they characterized as the world's first cloned human embryos but his work was later found to have been based on fabricated data.
Hwang, once touted as a national hero, has been charged with fraud and embezzlement of state funds, and the Supreme Court in 2014 sentenced him to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, holding him guilty of illegally pocketing state research funds and illegally buying human eggs.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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