Wind-down of stem-cell institute leaves a void
By Jeanne F. Loring,
Nature
| 08. 07. 2019
For the past dozen or so years, stem-cell researchers in California have been the envy of the world. In 2004, as a rebuke to the restrictions put in place in the United States by then-president George W. Bush on funding for human embryonic stem-cell research, Californians approved US$3 billion in taxpayer funds to support regenerative medicine. That essentially guaranteed that the state would become the centre of innovation in the field.
Since then, almost all of my research funding has come from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). But not for much longer.
In June, CIRM announced that it was no longer accepting new grant applications. Its money is running out, leaving researchers with fewer resources to develop stem-cell-based therapies. That same month, several of us stem-cell scientists were featured in a documentary series that promoted unproven stem-cell treatments and was partially funded by a for-profit clinic facing federal charges. We learnt about the nature of the series after that clinic sent mass e-mails promoting it. The film-makers removed interview footage at our request.
This coincidence demonstrates the double-edged...
Related Articles
The Center for Genetics and Society is delighted to recommend the current edition of GMWatch Review – Number 589. UK-based GMWatch, a long-standing ally, was founded in 1998 by Jonathan Matthews as an independent organization seeking to counter the enormous corporate political power and propaganda of the GMO industry and its supporters. Matthews and Claire Robinson are its directors and managing editors.
CGS works to ensure that social justice, equity, human rights, and democratic governance are front...
By Ryan Cross, Endpoints News | 08.19.2025
Human eggs are incredibly rare cells. The ovary typically produces only 400 mature eggs across a woman’s life. But biologists in George Church’s lab at Harvard University — a group that’s never content with nature’s limits — just got a...
By Katherine Drabiak, Journal of Medical Ethics Forum | 08.07.2025
Adapted from Mitochondrial DNA at
National Human Genome Research Institute
Recently, media outlets around the world have been reporting on children born from pronuclear genome transfer (sometimes called “3-parent IVF,” “mitochondrial donation” or “mitochondrial replacement therapy”) at Newcastle Fertility Center...
By Nicky Hudson, The Conversation | 08.12.2025