Disgraced scientist to get cloning patent

Australian officials are expected to grant a patent this week to a disgraced South Korean scientist for his disputed technology on cloning human embryos, a move that his supporters say would vindicate his work.

Hwang Woo-suk's purported breakthroughs in cloning stem cells raised hopes for developing cures to diseases such as Alzheimer's, but they were deemed fraudulent in 2005 when a key paper on the technology was found to contain fake data.

He continued to insist that his technology worked, and his team later applied for patents in some 10 countries.