South Korea Will Allow Human Embryonic Cloning Research

Via the West Australian (9/27):

South Korea said today it would allow research on creating stem cells through human embryonic cloning despite a scandal involving a prominent scientist in the field.

Such research has been suspended in South Korea since last year’s downfall of Hwang Woo-suk, a scientist once regarded as a national hero for internationally hailed work in cloning and stem cell research that was later shown to be falsified.

Hwang had been the only South Korean scientist allowed to conduct research on cloning human embryos...

The proposed revision would allow scientists to use only eggs set to be destroyed after fertility treatments or from other lawful uses, the Health Ministry said.

Scientists seeking to do such work would need to get a licence from the government, the ministry said.

The move “is expected to secure ethics and safety of bioscience research,” it said in a statement.