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SEOUL: A top South Korean university said Tuesday it has opened a full investigation into a bioscientist accused of faking apparent ground-breaking research.
The research by Kim Tae-Kook is said to have paved the way for developing methods to detect and kill cancer cells selectively without damaging normal cells, and materials that can prevent cell ageing and extend human life.
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) held a meeting of its research truth committee last Friday and Saturday to investigate the allegedly fraudulent work.
"Following the findings, the disciplinary committee of the school will convene to decide on disciplinary measures against him," a KAIST spokesman told AFP.
"But it's too early to say what will happen to him."
KAIST last week suspended Kim after saying he fabricated data in two papers, which had been hailed as breakthroughs and were published in renowned journals.
The papers are "A Magnetic Nanoprobe Technology for Detecting Molecular Interactions in Live Cells" published in Science in July 2005, and "Small Molecule-Based Reversible Reprogramming of Cellular Lifespan" released in Nature Chemicalbiology in July 2006.
KAIST said Kim fabricated data for both papers, adding it had suspended him and informed both journals about the findings.
Lee Gyun-Min, head of the institute's department of biological sciences, told reporters last week that Kim manipulated microscopic photos to fabricate results.
The university was unable to reach Kim, who is believed to be in the United States, he said.
In January 2006, Science had to retract two papers written by South Korean cloning expert Hwang Woo-Suk after some of his stem-cell research was found to be bogus. He is currently on trial.
After publishing his first paper in Science in July 2005, Kim told a local newspaper: "I want to become another Hwang Woo-Suk for Korea." - AFP/ac
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