Korea’s “king of cloning”, Prof. Hwang Woo-suk of Seoul National University, has once again shaken the scientific world after being the first to succeed in cloning a human embryo for stem cell extraction last year.

The scientist said Thursday he succeeded in yielding through nuclear transfer 11 immune-matched human embryonic stem cell lines derived from patients with spinal cord injury, juvenile diabetes and a genetic immune deficiency called congenital hypogammaglobulinemia. The research would one day enable doctors to cure patients of devastating diseases using their own cells and tissue, Hwang explained.

The results were published in the international journal Science. Stem cells are primal and undifferentiated cells that contain the potential to produce any kind of cells in the body. Stem cell therapy is tipped as the best hope of treating hitherto incurable diseases, repairing injured body parts or transplanting organs without rejection by the patient’s immune system.

The author, however, cautioned patients against getting their hopes up, saying, “It’s like completing eight stages out of 10 required to cure diseases using cloned stem cells.”

Science gave Hwang the star treatment, arranging a special press conference around his research team’s timetable while for the first time preparing a press release in Korean. Hwang has reportedly started testing some of the lines on animals, raising hopes of fresh discoveries.