Stem cell pioneer Hwang Woo-suk’s research team has reaffirmed that the only way to settle the dispute over their work’s authenticity is by verifying their findings through follow-up research.

Professor Kang Sung-keun of the stem cell research team said Saturday that the researchers have no intention of disclosing additional data on their experiments in a bid to prove their work’s authenticity.

Kang added that the team had not received a request from the US journal Science nor from the University of Pittsburgh to send additional information regarding the team’s studies.

On reports that the team is planning to unveil the results of the team's DNA fingerprinting analysis, Kang said the team is willing to give an explanation of the analysis results but will not disclose any additional DNA-related data.

Meanwhile, Kang said Professor Hwang continues to be unable to eat solid food and is likely to stay in the hospital longer than expected as he is also showing signs of depression.

Hwang was admitted to the hospital Tuesday for severe fatigue, stress and dehydration in the wake of a growing controversy over the validity of his stem cell research.