CGS-authored

Much of the California electorate was sold last year on the idea that human embryonic stem cells might be turned into amazing cures for incurable diseases, propelling Proposition 71 to easy victory in the Nov. 2004 election.

Now, it's increasingly clear that stem cell transplants for diabetes or Parkinson's or Alzheimer's are nowhere close, maybe decades away. So scientists have begun emphasizing a much more modest, but realistic, idea for the next several years: Stem cells may not cure anything right away, but they may serve as powerful models of the human organism for disease research and drug testing.

Rudolph Jaenisch of MIT, Inder Verma of the Salk Institute and Peter Schultz of the Scripps Research Institute delve into the details Saturday, part of a two-day conference in San Francisco designed to help the $3 billion California stem cell program set its grant-making priorities.

It's the first big scientific meeting sponsored by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state agency created to implement Prop. 71. The meeting promises to create a scientific road map for the state program to...