Editorial: Stem cell institute responsive, to a point

Six months ago, California's $3 billion stem cell research institute appeared to be an agency in denial.
Lawsuits prevented the institute from issuing research grants. Less litigious critics prodded its oversight committee to enact stronger rules on research ethics, intellectual property and conflicts of interest.

Instead of dealing with those issues, Chairman Robert Klein spent his time courting philanthropists and hiring a P.R. firm on a $378,000 no-bid contract. The agency's priorities were completely skewed.
On Friday, Klein and the oversight committee took a big step toward reversing past mistakes and demonstrating they can operate as an open, responsive public body. After listening to public interest groups, ethicists and legislators, the 29-member committee approved policies on medical standards and commercial licensing of stem cell therapies that, while not perfect, are a vast improvement over where the institute was heading just a few months ago.

Consider the issue of egg providers. To create lines of stem cells for research, scientists will need women to provide eggs, possibly thousands of them. Proposition 71 explicitly prohibits "compensation" for egg providers, with good reason...