Scientist bought mammoth from Russian Mafia

The South Korean has previously testified that his team tried to clone mammoths using tissues obtained from glaciers in Russia. He said they had tried three times, but failed.

On Tuesday, Hwang told the court some of the research funds "were used for expenses while in touch with the mafia in Russia", without going into detail about how the money was spent, or how the mafia had helped him to obtain the tissue samples.

Meanwhile, the fallen scientist's lawyers said they planned to seek a court order to retrieve samples of what Hwang claims to be the world's first cloned embryonic stem cells.

Seoul National University deemed the samples to be from mutated eggs, not cloned stem cells, after questions were raised about Hwang's breakthroughs - reported in the journal Science in 2004 - at the university laboratory. The school has since refused to return the samples to Hwang after firing him earlier this year, his lawyer, Jung Keun-hwa, said.

"We have a plan to conduct more tests," Mr Jung told the court, adding that Hwang believed further tests could show that the samples were, indeed, genuine cloned stem cells.

Hwang has maintained that anything that was falsified in his research findings was done by staff at his laboratory who deceived him into thinking the results were real.

In court yesterday, Hwang said allegations that he ordered his researchers to fabricate DNA test results were "a story like a novel". He said: "I didn't even know the means to fabricate DNA tests", adding that "it was very clear" his researchers had lied to prosecutors.

Researchers have testified at previous hearings, however, that they couldn't question or disobey Hwang, who was senior to them.

Hwang is facing charges for allegedly accepting 1.1 million in private donations based on the outcome of the falsified research, and of embezzling about 450,000 in private and government research funds. If convicted, he faces at least three years in prison.

Hwang's claims of world-leading advances in the new field of stem-cell research were discredited after revelations last year of ethics lapses that culminated in him admitting that forged evidence had been used for some of his academic papers.

Despite the scandal over forged research, Hwang resumed work in August at a new private laboratory, where he was expected to focus on animal stem-cell research. A trained vet, he is believed to have succeeded in creating the world's first cloned dog.

At the last court hearing in September, lawyers for Hwang's associates, who are facing similar charges, began their defence.

Hwang's purported breakthroughs, which were published in leading international science journals, thrust South Korea to the fore of stem-cell research, which some scientists believe could help to create innovative new cures for untreatable diseases.

Stem cells are the basic cells that can grow into all kinds of tissue, and cloning them could create a way for patients to be treated with cells matching their own DNA, so minimising the risk of rejection.

Rocky road to recreating a lost giant

SUCCESSFUL cloning of a woolly mammoth has long been a favoured pursuit of scientists working in the field.

Preserved parts of the ancient giants have been found in permafrost at various sites around the world - most notably in Siberia.

Their discovery has led to speculation that the creatures could be recreated to walk the Earth again after around 10,000 years of extinction. However, so far none of the recovered genetic material has been of sufficient quality for scientists to extract the DNA required for a cloning attempt to be made.

Other plans to extract sperm DNA from the remains with which to impregnate a female elephant and produce a hybrid animal have thus far failed to yield results.