As prosecutors continue their investigation, disgraced South Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk has been dismissed from his university professorship, stripped of his "Supreme Scientist" title, and banned from conducting any further research with stem cells.

Hwang achieved celebrity status after publishing two reports in the prestigious journal Science in 2004 and 2005, claiming that he cloned the first human embryo and extracted viable stem cell lines. Hwang's papers also purported to show the first cloned human stem cell lines that genetically matched the donors.

These reports were shown to be fraudulent after DNA tests showed that the stem cell lines were not created from cloned embryos, Korea Times reported.

However, Hwang is trying to resuscitate his image by touting investigators' conclusions that he did clone a dog. He also contends that at least one of the debunked cell lines were truly cloned but were damaged on purpose or by accident, according to Yonhap.

But Hwang conceded to prosecutors that other claims he made in the Science reports are false. "Hwang was admitting that he directed Kwon Dae-kee, a senior researcher at his laboratory, to manipulate samples for DNA testing of stem cell lines numbers 4-11 in connection with Hwang's 2005 paper," a prosecution official told Yonhap.

And despite Hwang's attempts to rehabilitate his reputation, South Korean government and academic officials have removed the financial support and honors they gave him. The Ministry of Science and Technology took away Hwang's title of "Supreme Scientist" March 22.

The title was granted after publication of his 2004 paper in Science that claimed he obtained a stem cell from a cloned human embryo. It gave him access to government funding for his research, which totaled a maximum of 3 billion won (about $3 million) each year, according to Korea Times.

"As the paper turned out to be a bogus, the panel cancelled the title," said Ministry of Science and Technology official Lee Han-Kuk, Agence France-Presse reported.

In addition, the government's Health Ministry revoked Hwang's license to conduct embryonic stem cell research March 16. He is not allowed to clone human embryos or to receive eggs for such research, according to the Associated Press (AP). "This is an inevitable measure as a clear defect has arisen in the requirement for research permission under the life ethics law due to the cancellation of the 2004 paper," the ministry said in a statement, the AP reported.

Hwang has faced academic consequences as well. His university, SNU, fired him from his post March 20. His co-authors who work at the university were suspended or had their salaries reduced, according to Korea Times. Hwang was also expelled from membership in the Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology March 10. Society officials said that Hwang "damaged the reputation of the society by manipulating the papers published in Science," Agence France-Presse reported.

Prosecutors may conclude their investigation and announce the results in April. "We have almost reached the bottom of the case," another prosecution official told Yonhap. "But we need more time to determine the truth because those involved are making contradictory claims."