Hear, hear: Ear project 'genuine', university says

SHANGHAI - The "human ear cartilage on a mouse back" project, once denounced as a scientific fraud, has been pronounced as genuine by experts and won international recognition, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine said in a press release on Saturday.

The project was carried out by Cao Yilin, a plastic surgeon who was rejected on Aug 17 as an academician candidate in the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

His former colleagues had accused him of irregularities involving about 300 million yuan ($46.2 million) in research funds and presenting a fake "ear mouse" on June 23.