A California Question: How to Turn Billions of Dollars into Revolutionary Gene and Stem Cell Therapies?

Touchy issues involving accusations that California’s $12 billion gene and stem cell research agency is pushing aside “good science” in favor of new priorities and preferences will be aired again in late March at a public meeting in Sacramento.

The concerns from scientists generally received a sympathetic hearing late last month from a number of directors of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), which deals primarily with funding stem cell and genetic research.

The stakes are high. The issues involve standards for handing out billions of dollars in research awards and whether the research will actually lead — sooner rather than later — to therapies available to the general public. The fate of CIRM is on the table. 

CIRM’s cash is expected to run out in about five years. Before that happens, CIRM backers will have to mount a new ballot initiative for more billions of taxpayer dollars if CIRM is to remain alive. The best chance of winning approval would be the general election of 2028. And CIRM needs results that resonate with voters to win...