STEM CELL CENTER'S WEB SITE OVERLOADED

Nov 1, 1:03 AM (ET)

By JAE-SOON CHANG


SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The Web site of a stem cell research center in Seoul was overloaded Tuesday when it began formally accepting applications from patients seeking to benefit from cloning technology, an official said.

The World Stem Cell Hub, led by cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-suk, had announced that it would begin receiving patient registration via the Internet and in person Tuesday morning. Its Web site, inaccessible for hours due to a rush of applications, returned to normal around late morning.

"Our Web site was extremely slow for about three hours from 8 a.m. as there were too many access attempts," said Yang Sung-kee, an official in charge of the Web site management at Seoul National Hospital where the stem cell research center is. "It looked like the server went down, but it didn't."

The official said his team had two network experts on standby in case of attacks on the site from those who oppose cloning technology, but there were no such attempts.

Nearly 1,200 applications were received as of Tuesday morning, said Lim Jong-pil, an official at the research center at Seoul National University Hospital. More applications were still being submitted.

"I'm pinning all hopes on this," said Lee Kil-no, 52, sitting in his wheelchair at the registration center, where dozens of other patients were completing registration forms. Lee said he suffered paralysis from the chest down after falling from a five-story construction site.

"I believe my condition will improve if I get this treatment. I wish I could walk again," he said.

The stem cell bank opened Oct. 19 with the aim of serving as the main center for providing scientists around the world with embryonic stem cells, seen as a potential source of replacement tissue for people with a variety of ailments.

The bank planned to receive applications from patients with Parkinson's disease or damaged spinal cords, who are willing to offer their skin tissue for research purposes. Officials have said it doesn't mean the beginning of clinical tests or treatment, yet applications still surged.

The bank - which will have its first branches in Britain and the United States - is expected to provide other scientists room to get around government restrictions on research into embryonic stem cells.

Many scientists are hoping to accelerate research on embryonic stem cells - master cells that can grow into all the other tissues in the body. However, culling stem cells often involves destroying the days-old embryos harboring them and the Bush administration bans U.S. federal funding for research on all but a handful of older embryonic stem-cell lines.

Hwang has received world recognition for cloning the world's first human embryos and extracting stem cells.

In May, Hwang announced he had created the world's first embryonic stem cells that genetically match injured or sick patients - a major step in the quest to grow patients' own replacement tissue to treat diseases.

Instead of using embryos left over from in-vitro fertilization, the Koreans create them from cloned skin cells. That process is favored by some scientists because cloning can create a perfect tissue match for sick patients. But critics say it condones creating human life for laboratory research.

On the Net:
The World Stem Cell Hub: http://www.worldstemcellhub.org