A South Korean researcher living in Pittsburgh told a Seoul National University investigation panel this weekend that he duplicated photos for an article claiming breakthrough stem-cell findings under orders from disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-Suk, a report said Sunday.
Kim Sun-Jong, one of three scientists formerly on Hwang's team now working as research scholars under his U.S. collaborator, University of Pittsburgh reproductive biologist Gerald Schatten, flew back to South Korea late Saturday, Seoul Broadcasting Systems told the Tribune-Review.
There, he was immediately taken to Seoul National University for questioning, Yonhap news agency reported.
A panel of experts investigating the extent to which Hwang's team fabricated 11 colonies of patient-derived embryonic stem cells grilled Kim until 6 a.m. yesterday, Yonhap said.
Kim, of Shadyside, told the panel Hwang had instructed him to submit several duplicate photos of stem cell colonies to make it look as if there were 11 separate lines, the news agency said.
The panel Friday said Hwang had fabricated at least nine of the 11 stem cell lines he claimed to have created in a June article in the journal Science, a breakthrough scientists considered a key step to creating tailored therapies for incurable ailments such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease.
Hwang apologized for the scandal and stepped down as a professor at Seoul National University but continues to insist that his team perfected the technology to create patient-matched stem cells, which have the potential to develop into other types of cells to repair damaged tissue.
Hwang has claimed that Kim switched some of his cloned stem cell lines with lines created by a hospital led by Roh Sung-il, an outspoken critic of Hwang, and has called for an investigation.
Roh said the accusation was meant to shift the blame away from Hwang.
Kim -- who said he had personally seen eight completed stem cell lines while working with Hwang -- told the university panel that he did not replace the cloned stem cells.
The head of the panel could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Prosecutors said Friday they would decide whether to investigate Hwang after the university finishes its probe. The Seoul District Prosecutor's Office said Hwang's fabrication is not subject to criminal charges.
New DNA test results expected within days will prove whether Hwang was able to clone any stem cells -- or create the world's first cloned human embryo and the only cloned dog, Snuppy, as he has asserted.
Schatten, 56, of Point Breeze, who heads the Pittsburgh Development at the Magee-Womens Research Institute, was listed as the senior author on Hwang's disputed stem-cell paper and the dog-cloning study.
Kim and two other South Korean colleagues -- Park Jong-Hyuk and Park Eul-Soon -- have been working in the Pitt researcher's Oakland laboratory.
Schatten's role in the stem-cell debacle is under investigation by the university's Office of Research Integrity, which is seeking to determine whether he is guilty of scientific misconduct in association with the Korean research.
