A controversial scientist who falsely claimed in 2004 to have produced the first cloned human embryo is behind Britain's first cloned dog.
Dr. Hwang Woo-suk of Sooam Biotech in Seoul announced Wednesday that he and his team successfully cloned a Dachshund named Winnie belonging to owner Rebecca Smith from west London.
Smith won a competition among pet owners to have her pet participate in the £60,000 dog cloning service. "Mini Winnie" was born March 30 after being cloned from skin cells belonging to the 12-year-old pet. One expert explains that though Winnie came from Smith's older dog, differences remain.
"It is extremely unlikely that a puppy cloned from a [favorite] pet will grow up to behave the same way," Dr. Robin Lovell-Badge, head of developmental genetics at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research, told The Telegraph.
The Korean scientist's canine brainchild is genuine and verified, but a controversial cloud surrounds his name due to past questionable practices.
This is not Hwang's first stint at cloning pets. In August 2005, his team unveiled an Afghan hound named Snuppy that they presented as the world's first cloned dog.
Hwang was more or less considered a national hero when he supposedly cloned human embryos and extracted stem cells from them - a breakthrough that could lead to revolutionary medical treatments.
Stories later emerged that Hwang in fact used eggs from females of his own research team. Not only that, but other female donors did not give valid consent, and many supposedly were given cash or other incentives for their involvement.
Two of Hwang's high-profile papers published in the Science journal were fabricated, including the study in which he claimed to have created the first-ever cloned human embryo.
Upon hearing the allegations, Gerald Schatten, a co-author on one of Hwang's papers, ended their partnership.
Hwang apologized for the lies, blaming his junior researchers for the mistake. He was forced to resign from his position at Seoul University and was later found guilty of fraud over millions of dollars in private and public funding he had received for his work.
