SEOUL, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The leading stem cell expert whose South Korean team cloned the first human embryo has apologized for ethical breaches in his lab.
Hwang Woo Suk, 52, whose team also created the first cloned dog, resigned all of his official positions, the BBC said Friday.
Under mounting pressure from the international scientific community, Hwang admitted his team had used ova samples extracted from two of his junior scientists during research that led to the team's historic cloning of a human embryo in 2003.
Such practices are considered highly unethical in international scientific circles. The practice of obtaining eggs from female team members is widely viewed as off-limits, the Washington Post said.
Choking back tears, Hwang said he had not known about the women's donations until the magazine Nature began investigating the source of his team's ova specimens early last year.
