Leading cloning scientist apologises over ethics lapses

THE academic world has been shaken over the admission of ethical lapses by the world’s leading cloning scientist.

South Korean Professor Hwang Woo-suk’s admission that two female scientists in his lab donated their own eggs for research is a major a setback for the work that has raised worldwide hopes it could help find cures for untreatable diseases.

Prof Hwang - who has produced the world’s first cloned human embryos and cloned dog - also said he would resign as head of the World Stem Cell Hub “to atone to the public”.