In 2004, Korean investigators lead by Woo Suk Hwang at Seoul National University announced the creation of the world’s first human embryonic stem cell line generated by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), which involves the transfer of DNA, usually from a skin cell, into an egg cell that has had its DNA-containing nucleus removed. The work, published in the prominent journal Science, was retracted in 2006 amidst evidence that the researchers had falsified their data.

However, a study published online August 2nd, 2007, by the journal Cell Stem Cell reports that the Koreans unintentionally created the world’s first human embryonic stem cell derived by parthenogenesis, or virgin birth. Development is triggered spontaneously from the egg alone without the need for sperm fertilization.