Posts Tagged: Cell

Recent News

Stem cell: Feds’ crackdown could affect California

A stem cell researcher in the laboratory. (Photo: 18percentgrey, via Shutterstock)

The recent federal crackdown on the use of fetal tissue in scientific research could well be a harbinger of an effort to revive restrictions on the use of human embryonic stem cells, placing a roadblock in the way of creation of therapies to treat often deadly afflictions that affect millions of Americans. And it could have an impact on the fate of California’s $3 billion stem cell program, which expects to run out of money for new awards by the end of next year.

Recent News

A European view of California’s stem cell agency

A pipette and recepticles used in stem cell research. (Photo: CI Photos)

Some folks in Europe are worried about stem cell research, particularly about organizations like California’s $3 billion stem cell agency. The alarm was sounded just yesterday in Horizon, which calls itself  “The EU Research and Innovation Magazine.”

Analysis

CA120: The changing nature of public polls

An image depicting the varied responses in political polling. (Illustration: Tim Foster/Capitol Weekly),

ANALYSIS: The public opinion polling industry in many ways is at a crossroads. For years public polls were run with live telephone interviews using a system of “random digit dialing” or RDD, which allowed a poll to be based on samples which would be naturally balanced since all potential voters had the same probability to be administered a phone survey.

News

Stem cell: On Capitol Hill, bipartisan accord on funding

U.S. Capitol at sunset. (Photo: Diego Grandi, via Shutterstock)

This past weekend brought news about a “rapturous agreement among Republicans and Democrats” to support development of new therapies by financing biomedical research with billions of dollars. The New York Times article indicated that the rapture could have something to do with the fact that many key political leaders on Capitol Hill are “aging in place.”

News

Strapped stem cell agency eyes tough options

Robert Klein addresses a meeting of two governing board committees of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. (Photo: David Jensen, California Stem Cell Report)

Facing the likelihood of a slow and withering death, the California stem cell agency is edging gingerly forward on a path of “cuts” and risky fund-raising in hopes that its research results will soon generate voter support for more billions of dollars. Two governing board committees of the $3 billion agency, formally known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), on Monday. Nov. 27,  recommended that the full board “entertain” the proposals at its Dec. 14 meeting.

News

Stem cell agency hunts for new leader

The Lorry I. Lokey stem cell research building at Stanford University, a major facility of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. (Photo: CIRM)

California’s $3 billion stem cell research program is looking for a new president to carry the state agency through what may be the last three years of its life. The search committee of the agency’s 29-member governing board meets July 17 to discuss the matter behind closed doors.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly podcast: Paul Mitchell

An increasingly rare device -- the dial telephone.

A decade ago, better than nine out of 10 California households with telephones relied on land lines for their service — a scant 5 percent used cell phones for their home connection. This year, nearly half of all households rely on cell phones. So Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster dialed up our favorite numbers cruncher, Political Data analyst Paul Mitchell, to talk about the seismic shift from to cell phones to land lines and how that will play out in the 2018 election cycle.

News

Stem cell agency founder eyes $5 billion in state funding

A human DNA complex. ((Illustration, Shutterstock)

The man often called the father of the California stem cell agency has all but said he is set to launch an effort to pump an additional $5 billion in state funding into the research effort, which is scheduled to run out of cash in about three years.

News

Stem cell agency: No giveaways in $150 million plan

A high-resolution image of human egg cells. (Jezper, via Shutterstock)

The president of the California stem cell agency, Randy Mills, yesterday said that the firms that responded to an ambitious proposal to create a $150 million public/private partnership were seeking to make a “better deal” than the agency had offered. Mills said that the agency was “not going to give away something that is not in the best interests of the people of California.”

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