Controversial fertility expert Panayiotis Zavos triggered scientific uproar in London this week by announcing that he'd created cloned embryos using genetic material from dead people. But the editor of the journal that had already accepted a paper by Zavos on the subject has said he may pull the study from publication based on Zavos' announcement.

At a press conference Monday, the researcher said he had combined DNA from three dead people with cow oocytes to generate embryos in a proof of principal experiment, according to media reports.

Scientists, including the Royal Society, immediately said it was impossible to assess Zavos' claims without peer review and publication in a reputable journal.

But Zavos told reporters a study on the subject had been accepted for publication, news outlets reported. On his Web site he lists a paper entitled "Development of an interspecies-specific bioassay using the bovine oocyte model to evaluate the potential of SCNT in humans," authors Illmensee K., Pfeiffer I., Brenig B., Levanduski M., Zavos P.M, which he says is in press with the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics.

On Wednesday, the editor-in-chief of that journal confirmed in an E-mail to The Scientist that a paper with Zavos as coauthor has been accepted for publication, but said the scientist's press conference had put that publication in jeopardy.

"This has been, for obvious reasons, of great concern for us and not only because we, like most other journals, do NOT tolerate uncoordinated/unauthorized prepublication publicity," Norbert Gleicher said.

"Of even greater concern to us is that, as suggested by one of the news organizations, Dr. Zavos allegedly misrepresented what the paper we have accepted contains. Specifically, we were told that he represented that the paper reports on the fusion of bovine oocytes with cells from deceased human beings. This is NOT what the paper reports which we have accepted," said Gleicher.

Considering all this, Gleicher has written to the senior author of the paper threatening to stop its publication unless he receives assurances in writing by end of business today, September 2, that no significant material from the pending publication was "pre-published" through the media, and no incorrect representations about the content of the paper were made to the media.

The fact that Zavos told his news to the media before publishing it was a major concern for the Royal Society, too. Richard Gardner, chair of the Royal Society working group on stem cell research and cloning, said: "It is impossible to evaluate Dr Zavos' claim to have created cloned embryos using genetic material from dead human beings because, once again, he has gone to the media before his work has been checked through proper scientific peer review."

Using the media to make claims that are unsubstantiated by credible scientific and medical authorities "simply leads to unnecessary public anxiety," Gardner said.

Zavos did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.