• 
• 

Published on September 20, 2007

Looking into records for the past three months, the Immigration Bureau said nobody by that name had entered the Kingdom.

National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) secretary general Anond Boonyarattavej said he was surprised by media reports about Hwang's entry into Thailand and his plans to research "inter-species nucleus transplant".

Associated Press reported yesterday Hwang's research in Thailand involved removing the nucleus from an adult human cell and transplanting it into an animal's egg to produce human stem cells.

"I don't think any research institute had invited Hwang to conduct research here, particularly research on trans-species cloning as it is unethical," Anond said.

Stem-cell scientist from Suranari University Rangsan Palpai, who has been successful with cloning several species, said he was immediately suspected of hosting Hwang and his team. "Many people called me today asking if Hwang had worked here with me, but I have had no contact with him recently."

However, Rangsan admitted that Hwang was invited to lecture at the Suranari University in November 2005, adding that he himself was conducting embryonic stem-cell cloning experiments on cows and monkeys.

Mongkhol Techakamphu, from the Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Veterinary Science, also said his laboratory had nothing to do with Hwang.

Last year, the South Korean government banned Hwang from conducting research on human eggs after his claims of creating the first human stem cell through cloning were found to be fake. He is currently being tried for fraud.

Quoting Park Se-pill, a Cheju National University professor and well-known South Korean stem-cell scientist who is close to Hwang, AP said Hwang had moved his research to Thailand to avoid ethical disputes in South Korea.

The Nation