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Korea's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has rejected the registration of a stem cell line, dubbed NT-1, created by former Seoul National University professor Hwang Woo-suk, citing a lack of scientific evidence to prove that the line was created through somatic cloning.
Hwang and his research team created NT-1 in 2003 and have claimed that it was the world's first stem cell batch extracted from cloned human embryos.
As it requested Hwang to submit more evidence in June, the center plans to form a verification committee, consisting of related experts, to verify the authenticity of the NT-1 with the additional evidence.
With some research showing that the NT-1 was developed by parthenogenesis, the "virgin birth," a process by which an egg develops on its own without fertilization, skeptical views on Hwang's claims is more dominant now.
In 2006, Seoul National University's investigation committee announced that the NT-1 was highly likely to be produced by the virgin birth method, citing its genetic fingerprint that shows the stem cell was created through meiosis and genetic recombination.
A research team at...