South Korean Scientist Claims to Have Cloned Wolves
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
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AP
March 26: Snuwolf and Snuwolffy, the purportedly cloned wolves, at the Seoul Zoo in Gwacheon, South Korea.
SEOUL, South Korea — A former collaborator of disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk claimed Monday to have succeeded in cloning wolves.
The two wolves — endangered species — were born Oct. 18 and 26 in 2005, said Lee Byeong-chun, a veterinary professor of Seoul National University, according to the university's office of research affairs.
DNA tests showed the two wolves — named Snuwolf and Snuwolffy — are clones, the office said, adding the results would be published in the journal Cloning and Stem Cells.
The team did not immediately provide any independent verification of the DNA tests.
Lee's team succeeded in cloning a female dog, an Afghan hound named Bona, last year after creating the world's first cloned dog in 2005.
Lee was a key member of Hwang's research team, whose purported breakthroughs in creating human stem cells through cloning were found to be fake. But the team's success in cloning the world's first dog, Snuppy, was confirmed.
Lee, who had been suspended from his university for three months over the stem cell scandal, was the main scientist in the dog cloning. He has been on trial, along with Hwang and other former team members, on charges of misappropriating research funds.
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