They said the results showed he was cloned by researchers led by disgraced South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk.

"These data are consistent with Snuppy being a genetic clone of the donor dog Tai," said Elaine Ostrander of the National Human Genome Research Institute, in Bethesda, Maryland.

The Seoul National University Investigation Committee and Ostrander's team both announced their findings in January. Their research studies are published in the latest edition of the journal Nature.

Doubts about whether Snuppy was a genuine clone surfaced after an investigation showed Hwang falsified data in two groundbreaking studies in which he claimed to have cloned human embryos to provide stem cells.

It was considered one of the biggest cases of scientific fraud in recent history.

The stem cell research had raised hope for patients suffering from diseases ranging from diabetes to Parkinson's. Stem cells are master cells that have the potential to develop into any cell type in the body.

Scientists believe they could act as type of repair system to provide new therapies. But their use is controversial because the most promising stem cells for treating human disease are derived from very early human embryos left over from fertility treatments.

Snuppy, short for Seoul National University puppy, was born last year after a normal pregnancy. He was created using somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Cloning is carried out by extracting genetic material from the cell of the animal that is being cloned and placing it in a donor egg whose nucleus has been removed. The egg is activated to develop into an embryo and transferred to a surrogate mother.

Ostrander's team used blood samples shipped from Korea and DNA samples from 11 Afghan hounds registered with the American Kennel Club in the United States in their research.

The South Korean panel of scientists also used autopsy samples from the now dead mixed-breed dog that provided the egg used to clone Snuppy.