A special panel of Seoul National University (SNU) said Thursday DNA tests have shown that no patient-tailored embryonic stem cell lines, that embattled South Korean clone expert Hwang Woo-suk claimed, existed.

The DNAs of five stem cell samples, which Hwang claimed to be capable of developing into patient-specific stem cells, did not match those of their donors, according to the panel which was formed in mid-December to probe the authenticity of Hwang's stem cell research.

The nine-member panel said at a press conference earlier in the day that a series of DNA tests showed the five stem cell lines were extracted from a fertilized egg created by Mizmedi Hospital, which had provided human eggs for Hwang's research.

Moreover, the panel said the DNAs of the No. 2 and No. 3 stem cells claimed in Hwang's paper published in the Science journal in May were also confirmed no match to donors'. It found that the two stem lines also were extracted from a fertilized egg created by Mizmedi Hospital.

"Currently, we can not find any stem cells whose DNAs match to the ones of patient donors' somatic cells, and we also did not find any evidence Hwang's team had successfully cultivated such patient-tailored stem cells," concluded the panel.

On Dec. 16, Hwang Woo-suk claimed at a press conference that five patient-tailored embryonic stem cells stored in his lab were under a process of thawing which can prove he actually had the source technology to make patient-tailored stem cells.

Thursday's press conference came six days after the previous one, in which the panel released its preliminary report on investigation of Hwang's paper published by Science in May.

In the paper, the South Korean researcher claimed his team successfully extracted 11 stem cell lines from cloned human embryos produced by somatic cells donated by patients. The findings were hailed as it could help open the way for treating such incurable diseases as diabetes and Alzheimer's.

However, the panel's tentative report said Hwang's team had reported it had 11 patient-tailored stem cell lines but there were only two such stem cell lines - No.2 and No.3 - on March 15 when it submitted its paper to Science.

The panel said last Friday the images of the nine so-called stem cells published along with Hwang's paper were all duplicated and fabricated from the two stem cells, which were also confirmed not patient-tailored as Hwang claimed in the paper earlier Thursday.

The special panel planned to issue final report on its investigation over Hwang's research in early January 2006.

The final report is expected to include the conclusion of whether Hwang's team has the source technology to extract stem cells from cloned human embryo, the authenticity of Hwang's paper published in Science in 2004 on the first cloned embryonic stem cell line and the one published in Britain-based journal of Nature over first cloned dog in the world.

Source: Xinhua