Netflix will release an 'explosive' new documentary which features unprecedented access to notorious scientist South Korean Hwang Woo-suk. Titled 'King of Clones', the documentary is set to arrive on the streaming service within the coming days.
The documentary will tell the story of Hwang, from when he shocked the world by reporting he had cloned human embryonic stem cells, to his sensational downfall. In the mid 2000's, Hwang published 'bombshell' scientific papers that included human cloning claims.
This was seen as a major breakthrough in the scientific community, as it held the promise of potentially treating diseases and injuries by growing patient-specific replacement tissues or organs.
However, after an investigation, Hwang eventually admitted faking his findings and had committed ethical violations by using eggs from his graduates and the black market for his research. It's worth noting, however, that Hwang reportedly said his goal was not to clone humans, but clone cells which could be used for medicine.
A description of the film on Netflix reads: "From ground-breaking human cloning research to a scandalous downfall, this documentary tells the captivating story of Korea's most notorious scientist." There doesn't appear to be any trailer released so far for the documentary, but a short one is available to watch under Netflix’s Remind Me section.
During his rise to prominence, Hwang claimed he had cloned cows, pigs and dogs. Despite a subsequent fall from grace and embezzlement charge, these claims were true.
In 2005, Hwang announced a world first, reporting that he and his team had successfully created the first cloned dog, a female Afghan hound named Snuppy - who lived until 2015. In the same year, Hwang's company, Sooam Biotech, said it was cloning hundreds of dogs each year, with owners paying over $100,000 (£80,175) per puppy.
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Hwang is still in the cloning business, including breeding pigs which were genetically predisposed to certain diseases so that they could be used for testing pharmaceuticals. This is along with cloning cattle highly valued for their meat.
The scientist continues to hit the headlines with his endeavours to clone a woolly mammoth, but no suitable sample for cloning has been found.
When King of Clones will be released?
King of Clones is a Netflix UK commission and will be coming to the streaming platform on June 23. It took nine months of writing to Hwang by the documentary's makers to get access to him.
Eventually, Variety says it met the scientist at his "villa in the grounds of a seven-star hotel in the middle of a desert in Abu Dhabi, owned by Sheikh Mansour."
