By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Two years after firing him, Seoul National University (SNU) just can't seem to get rid of disgraced gene scientist Hwang Woo-suk.
Perhaps the rock-star researcher-turned-pariah may never be taken seriously again after his studies on cloned human stem cells were deemed fraudulent in 2005 in one of the biggest scandals the science world has ever witnessed.
However, Hwang is nonetheless pushing for redemption, and his consistent efforts to acquire a patent for his disputed technology for cloning human embryos is giving his former employer a headache.
Australia's national patent agency, IP Australia, is currently reviewing an application from Hwang for a cloned human embryonic stem cell. Hwang created an international sensation in 2005 by claiming the creation of cloned embryos from patient-specific embryonic stem cells.
Although the study was later exposed as containing fake data, Hwang continues to insists that his technology is legitimate, with his team at the Sooam Biotech Research Center applying for patents in 10 countries.
The patent application filed to IP Australia relates to a human embryonic stem cell line, NT-1, Hwang claimed to have generated through somatic cell nuclear transfer in a separate study in 2004, then published by peer-review journal, Science.
It remains to be seen whether Australia will become the first country to grant Hwang a patent for human cloning technology, but the SNU is certainly hoping the patent authorities there will be skeptical.
Korean Law states that the intellectual property rights for an invention created by a researcher from a national university belong to the state.
Thus, the patent currently reviewed by IP Australia is filed under the name of SNU, with Hwang simply listed as one of the 19 inventors. SNU is reluctant about being forced to represent a man it expelled in 2006, but also feels uneasy about waiving the application as it was submitted before the eruption of the scandal.
``Hwang's research was government-funded, and the results of his research are national property, so it's hard for us to give up the patent application or transfer the rights to Sooam,'' said an SNU official.