Evaluating California’s Stem Cell Experiment

Twenty years ago, a 341-pound football player smashed into Roman Reed during a Chabot College game in Hayward, breaking the 19-year-old’s neck and changing his life inalterably.

Reed lost nearly all of his ability to move his body. But since then – with hard, hard work and good fortune – he has regained many of his skills. Although he still must use a wheelchair, he chauffeurs his three children to baseball games and sends out their photos on Facebook. He travels around California and the nation, advocating for patients like himself.

Reed’s favorite cause may well be California’s $3 billion stem cell program, which marks its 10th anniversary this month. He came up with the agency’s motto: “Turning stem cells into cures.” Its success or failure is much on Reed’s mind. Just recently, he described the state stem cell agency as a “beacon of hope” that will lead to cures for afflictions that affect nearly 50 percent of California families.

Today, however, no California-financed cures or therapies have reached the clinic and none are likely to do so...