A pipette and receptacles used in stem cell research. (Photo: CI Photos)The talk at the California stem cell agency this week was of ”boiling the ocean,” the meaning of “unlikely” and “DEI.” All of which involves how $5.5 billion in taxpayer dollars will be used over the next decade or so.
A stem cell researcher at UC Davis. (Photo: AJ Cheline, UC Davis, via The Stem Cellar)Backed by $17 million in cash from California’s stem cell agency, researchers at UC Davis this month are launching “the world’s first clinical trial using stem cells to treat spina bifida before the child is born.”
Stem cell researcher and professor Larry Goldstein. (Photo: Screen capture, UCTV).Larry Goldstein, a well-known stem cell researcher at the University of California, San Diego who has received nearly $22 million in awards from the California stem cell agency, today was named to its governing board. It was the first time in the history of the 16-year-old agency that a scientist who has received agency awards has been appointed to the board.
Stem cell research using what's known as a PCR strip. (Image: Science Photo via Shutterstock) California’s ambitious stem cell agency has launched itself on a new, $5.5 billion journey, approving a plan to hand out $182 million to researchers by the middle of next year and beefing up its efforts to bring equality to therapies and scientific labs.
A scientist at work in a biological lab. (Photo: anyaivanova)California voters have apparently approved spending $5.5 billion more on stem cell research over the next 10 to 15 years and significantly broadening the scope of its state stem cell agency, according to unofficial figures this morning.
A scientist with a pipette doing cellular research. (Photo: 18percentgrey, via Shutterstock)OPINION: At a time of budget crisis, Proposition 14 commits California to spending $5 billion (plus interest) that we don’t have, on a bureaucracy we don’t need, in pursuit of cures no one can guarantee. Specifically, Prop. 14 would refinance the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), also known as the state stem cell agency.
A medical researcher examines cancer stem cells. (Photo: luchschenF, via Shutterstock)Over the last 15 years, California’s stem cell agency has spent $2.7 billion on research on everything from cancer to arthritis. The vast majority of the money has gone to enterprises that have ties to members of the agency’s governing board. Eight out of every ten dollars that agency has handed out have been collected by 25 institutions such as Stanford University, multiple campuses of the University of California and scientific research organizations. Their combined total exceeds $2.1 billion.
Personnel at UCSF's facility in Fresno, which may benefit if Proposition 14 is approved. (Photo: UCSF)Proposition 14, the fall ballot measure to save California’s stem cell agency from financial extinction, contains much, much more than the $5.5 billion that it is seeking from the state’s voters. Added to the agency’s charter would be research involving mental health, “therapy delivery,” personalized medicine and “aging as a pathology.“ That is not to mention a greater emphasis on supporting “vital research opportunities” that are not stem cell-related.
DNA is injected into a stem cell. (Photo: Spectral-Design, via Shuttertock)The California stem cell agency has just finished pumping $5.3 million into the fight to save the lives of Covid-19 victims. And — in a ballot-box bonus — its efforts are already surfacing in the ballot campaign to rescue the agency from its own demise. The agency is running out of money. It will begin closing its doors this fall without major financial support that it hopes will come from Proposition 14, a $5.5 billion bond measure on the November ballot.
Rudy Giuliani, left, and Robert Hariri. (Photo: Hariri Twitter page.)California’s stem cell agency last week awarded $750,000 to a New Jersey firm to help finance a clinical trial for the firm’s proposed Covid-19 treatment — a therapy that has been hailed by President Trump’s personal attorney as having “real potential.” The firm is Celularity, Inc. Its president and co-founder is Robert Hariri, who describes himself as a longtime friend of Rudy Giuliani.