<div><p>After a three-year trial, a South Korean court is Monday due to pass judgement on a scientist hailed as a national hero until his apparently landmark stem cell research was ruled to be fake.</p><p>Prosecutors have demanded a four-year jail term for Hwang Woo-Suk, who went on trial in June 2006 for embezzling funds and ethical lapses.</p><p>Hwang, 56, shot to fame in 2004 when he published a paper in the US journal "Science" claiming to have created the world's first stem cell line from a cloned human embryo.</p><p>In a follow-up paper in 2005 in the same journal, he maintained that his team had developed 11 patient-specific embryonic stem cell lines.</p><p>The claims raised hopes of new treatments for diseases such as cancer, diabetes and Parkinson's.</p><p>The government showered Hwang and his team from the prestigious Seoul National University (SNU) with money, models and other honours. Hwang was awarded the title of "Supreme Scientist".</p><p>But his golden reputation was tarnished in November 2005 amid allegations that he had violated medical ethics by accepting human eggs from his own researchers.</p><p>Hwang apologised for the lapse but the scandal widened with reports from local television network MBC that his entire research was fabricated.</p><p>His world came crashing down in January 2006 when a SNU investigative team published a damning report. It confirmed that his findings were faked and said he produced no stem cells of any kind.</p><p>In one crumb of comfort, the experts validated his work in creating Snuppy (Seoul National University puppy), the world's first cloned dog.</p><p>Prosecutors began a criminal investigation and Hwang was stripped of his honours.</p><p>He was charged with defrauding private donors of about two billion won (1.7 million dollars) in research funds by exaggerating his research and with embezzling state donations.</p><p>Hwang was also accused of breaking a bioethics law which prohibits illegal human egg transactions.</p><p>Five other scientists were also charged.</p><p>Prosecutors claim Hwang used bank accounts under names borrowed from friends to divert state research funds and private donations.</p><p>He has accepted broad responsibility for the faked research but denied ordering his researchers to fabricate results. He has insisted he could still prove he created the first cloned human stem cells.</p><p>Hwang also denies embezzling any funds, blaming absent-mindedness to explain the flawed book-keeping of his research institute.</p><p>"How could I say in detail where the money went?" he told the court in October 2006, adding he had not taken a "single penny" for himself.</p><p>The scientist has said some of the funds were paid to Russians while he worked on projects to clone a Siberian tiger and the extinct woolly mammoth, as part of his research into growing new organs for human beings.</p><p>Hwang, who was free on bail during his trial, focused on animal cloning after losing his government licence for human stem cell research. Last Thursday he presented two cloned dogs to a zoo in the town of Cheongju.</p><p>"Regardless of the verdict, Hwang will continue his research. We hope the court will make a wise decision," Hyun Sang-Hwan, chief adviser to the Sooam Biotech Research Centre led by Hwang, told AFP.</p><p>The former Supreme Scientist has always retained some loyal supporters who refuse to believe their hero is flawed. The court has received a series of petitions from them, including 55 lawmakers who called for leniency.</p><p>In May 2006 local Buddhists offered more than 60 million dollars to allow him to resume his research.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=61907934&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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