Editorial: Stem cell oversight board is flying blind

Robert Klein II, the self-appointed czar of California's stem cell institute, has created a completely unworkable system for dispensing $3 billion in taxpayer-funded research grants.
In fact, it is hard to imagine a system that is more convoluted and opaque than what Klein has created. Its shortcomings were on full display at a Sept. 9 meeting of the institute's oversight board here in Sacramento.

At the meeting, the 29-person board (with a few members absent) labored to decide which universities and research entities should receive the institute's first training grants, totalling about $13 million per year.

During the meeting, the distinguished scientists on the panel resembled ballerinas in Kurt Vonnegut's story, "Harrison Bergeron," who tried to dance with bag weights. The scientists didn't have the information they needed to make knowledgable decisions, and many seemed frustrated because of it.

Here's how the system works:

An applicant - a California researcher or university - applies to the stem cell institute for a grant. That application is reviewed by a working group of out-of-state scientists and eight patient advocates who serve on...