The Science journal said on Thursday that embattled South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk's research results on human stem cell cloning should be strictly checked of their authenticity.

Donald Kennedy, Science's chief editor, said that the journal urged South Korean authorities and researchers elsewhere to review Hwang's studies.

This investigation may demand repeating Hwang's experiments by independent researchers. If the results are identical with Hwang's, the Korean researcher's achievement should be acknowledged, the chief editor said.

The journal, most prestigious among the world scientific community, published two papers by Hwang's team. In a paper in year 2004, Hwang reported success of cloning human stem cells. And in a landmark paper published in June 2005, Hwang's team said it had cloned 11 stem cell lines for patients with different diseases.

While earning world-class fame for Hwang, this paper has aroused growing questions.

Gerald Schatten, a co-author of this paper from the Pittsburgh University of the United States, alleged Hwang of not only "immorally" collecting eggs from female personnel in laboratory, but also fabricating results. Schatten demanded the Science journal to withdraw his name from the paper.

Meanwhile, cooperators at the Seoul National University (SNU), where Hwang works, also called for an investigation.

On Dec. 12, the SNU announced it will conduct an investigation at the scientists' request, following a Dec. 7 petition for an investigation from 30 SNU faculty members to university president Un Chan Chung.

Prompted initially by anonymous allegations made on a public website about irregularities in the paper, scientists in South Korea and elsewhere are calling for the paper's key DNA fingerprinting tests to be redone by an independent researcher.

Source: Xinhua