Roh Sung-il, the chief of the MizMedi Hospital, walks into Seoul National University’s College of Veterinary Medicine for questioning by an SNU investigation panel regarding the authenticity of a stem-cell research paper he co-authored with cloning expert Prof. Hwang Woo-suk. SNU Academics Seek Verification of Hwang Research MBC Union Unrepentant Over Hwang Expose Hwang Team Pre-Empts SNU Bid to Verify Research Cloning Pioneer Visits Lab From Hospital Top Geneticists Call on Hwang to Help Confirm Findings Hwang Defends Stem Cell Research U.S. Scientist Withdraws Name From Hwang Paper Hwang Scandal Splashed Across Global Front Pages SNU Sets Up Panel to Check Hwang Research Stem Cells Don’t Exist: Hwang Associate What Went Wrong in the Hwang Affair? Researcher Says Hwang Stem Cell Research Accurate Hwang Grilled as SNU Inquiry Gets Under Way Fresh Mixup Casts Doubt on Cloning Pioneer’s Research Widening SNU Probe Seals Off Hwang’s Lab Hwang Achievements Succumb to Domino Effect SNU Panel 'Close' to Finding if Hwang's Stem Cells Exist Schatten Requested US$200,000 for 'Effort'

Prof. Yoon Hyun-soo of Hanyang University, who returned to Korea on Tuesday, spoke with the committee for four hours. The MizMedi chief, Moon and Yoon all contributed to a paper on cloning embryos from somatic cells published in the journal Science last year, and will have been able to shed light on whether the stem cells Hwang says he extracted from cloned embryos existed.

Han Hak-soo, who produces the “PD Diary” current affairs program that ran a controversial expose of Hwang, was called at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and reportedly grilled about how he came by the materials he used in his broadcasts, and about the program’s charge that Hwang fabricated results. Kim Sun-jong, a Hwang team member who was dispatched to Pittsburgh to work with the research team led by Prof. Gerald Schatten there, is reportedly returning to Korea sooner than planned.

Once stem cells Hwang says he kept for cross-checking have been thawed and cultured, the panel will commission three expert institutes to analyze their DNA fingerprints to see if they match patients’. “We have requested an interview with the person in the National Institute of Scientific Investigation responsible for DNA fingerprint analysis for Hwang’s team and have also asked Hanyang University to set up a meeting with professors concerned,” the committee said.

The panel has moved the press conference where it will give its interim report from Thursday to 11 a.m. Friday.

(englishnews@chosun.com )