President Roh Moo-hyun visited a bio-engineering research center at Seoul National University Hospital on Wednesday to offer words of encouragement to its staff, who are currently conducting research related to organ transplantation and mad cow disease.

Speaking to Professor Hwang Woo-suk and several other researchers conducting an experiment on cow and pig genes, the president praised their efforts and urged them to persevere in their work. Roh added his hope that the ongoing gene research would help cure fatal diseases in humans, and eventually put an end to fears of beef contaminated by mad cow disease.