The British journal Nature has urged scrutiny of the work by American stem cell researcher Gerald Schatten given that Hwang is a co-author of Schatten's paper on monkey cloning.

In its latest issue, the journal said the global scientific community has questions for Schatten, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh and co-author of Hwang's paper published last year.

Nature said no one has raised explicit questions over Schatten's work and the university has declined comment pending its own investigation into the Hwang scandal, perhaps due to fear over the impact on patent applications.

Giving Hwang special coverage in its latest issue, Nature made an in-depth report on the final results of the investigative panel's probe on Hwang, his rise and fall and controversy surrounding Schatten.