| ■ Endangered Dogs Cloned By Disgraced Stem Cell Scientist | 2008.06.23 |
| Seventeen clones of an endangered dog breed have been created by a South Korean team led by disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk. The Tibetan mastiff dogs were born in April, according to the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, which refused to reveal the cloning success rate of the project, the Associated Press reported. The cloning was done at the request of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Tibetan mastiff dogs are popular in China. According to the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, all 17 dogs were cloned from two Tibetan mastiffs -- a female and a male - through six surrogate dogs. However, an official with another institute that did blind DNA tests for the foundation said the samples it tested were provided by Hwang's team, meaning it was unclear if the samples came from the original dogs, the cloned dogs, or a combination of both, the AP reported. In 2005, Hwang and colleagues created the first known dog clone. But Hwang's reputation was later tarnished when it was revealed that he faked what had been hailed as breakthrough research involving embryonic stem cells. |