Aggregated News
AS POLITICIANS in Washington tussle over a bill that could expand federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, California's newly minted $3 billion commitment to the field is still trying to get itself off the ground.
Eight months after a state ballot initiative, Proposition 71, established the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the stem-cell agency's main accomplishment has been to bootstrap itself into existence.
The institute has staked out a new permanent headquarters site in San Francisco, selected an interim president and put together several panels of experts to help evaluate funding requests and determine research standards. But its real mission -- to funnel roughly $300 million a year into California-based stem-cell research and facilities over the next decade -- is stalled.
Thanks to a lawsuit that has delayed a planned sale of state bonds, the institute's main source of funding is in limbo. The stem-cell agency has been subsisting on an initial loan from the state and couldn't even hire additional support staff until philanthropists offered it a $5 million gift earlier this month. In the meantime, it has been...
Eight months after a state ballot initiative, Proposition 71, established the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the stem-cell agency's main accomplishment has been to bootstrap itself into existence.
The institute has staked out a new permanent headquarters site in San Francisco, selected an interim president and put together several panels of experts to help evaluate funding requests and determine research standards. But its real mission -- to funnel roughly $300 million a year into California-based stem-cell research and facilities over the next decade -- is stalled.
Thanks to a lawsuit that has delayed a planned sale of state bonds, the institute's main source of funding is in limbo. The stem-cell agency has been subsisting on an initial loan from the state and couldn't even hire additional support staff until philanthropists offered it a $5 million gift earlier this month. In the meantime, it has been...