Would cloning and bringing back to life a mammoth that is believed to have gone extinct several thousand years ago be enough for a defamed scientist who left an indelible stain on scientific academia to make a comeback?

Some of Hwang Woo-suk's supporters certainly hope so.

On Monday, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Moon-soo and Mr. Hwang announced at a press conference the first successful cloning of eight coyotes. The provincial government has sponsored a team of 48 researchers, led by Mr. Hwang, since 2009.

Once hailed as a national hero, Mr. Hwang's problems began in 2005, when a spate of revelations proved that he fabricated what was then believed to be a major breakthrough in stem-cell research. There were also ethical problems associated with female researchers donating their eggs, and embezzling government research funds.

At the event, Gov. Kim said, "I asked Dr. Hwang the other day if he could clone a dinosaur. He said it's impossible because there were no remains of a dinosaur from which he could extract somatic cell.