SEOUL, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Disgraced South Korean stem cell research scientist Hwang Woo-suk has reportedly opened a private research laboratory.
Hwang, currently on trial for scientific fraud, worked with a South Korean medical company to establish a foundation called the Suam Biotechnology Institute Foundation, the Asian Times reported Monday. The $2.6 million facility will focus on cross-species organ transplants.
Research conducted by Hwang during 2004 and 2005 had been described as producing the world's first stem cells from human cloned embryos. But the research was subsequently found to have been fabricated and he was fired from Seoul National University, where he had gained international respect.
Hwang is charged with misappropriating state and private research funds worth an estimated $3.2 million.
