Image by Hotaik SungCalifornia scientists took what looked like an $800 million hit last week in their efforts to develop revolutionary treatments and cures for diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes.
Smoke blanketing California's coastline. Image courtesy of NOAA website. A wave of life-threatening air pollution is now being reported widely as refugees from the devastating fires in Los Angeles return to what is left of their homes. Research being funded by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine could help uncover how fine particulate matter from wildfires, vehicle emissions, and industrial sources affects stem cells and brain development.
Scientist performing stem cell research for cancer therapy. Image by ManjurulCalifornia’s $12 billion stem cell experiment turned 20 years old this fall, winning kudos from some patients and scientists but failing to fulfill the expectations of voters who thought they had created an enterprise that would lead quickly to revolutionary cures for cancer, heart disease, stroke and much more.
David Vetter, aka "the bubble boy," who died in 1984 from severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). Photo by APAnother child has been treated for a deadly affliction known as the “bubble boy” disease. Dr. Moustache and his “magical team” did have a little help, courtesy of the people of California who put tens of millions of dollars into financing his cell and gene therapy.
Cancer cells. Cancer outbreak and treatment for malignant cancer. Image by Mohammed Haneefa Nizamudeencells in a human body. 3d illustrationA once-heralded research venture by the state of California that targeted “don’t eat me” signals that protect cancer cells has now ended. The potential treatment’s obituary boiled down to one phrase repeated six times and buried deep in a corporate document.
CIRM chair Vito Imbasciani at the January CIRM board meeting, which was both online and in-person. California Stem Cell Report photoCalifornia’s $12 billion stem cell agency is under “’unprecedented strain” and is ready to impose a five-month hold on applications for the key, $15 million research awards that support the final steps in bringing revolutionary treatments to patients.
Robert Klein, Art Torres and Jonathon Thomas. Photo courtesy of the California Stem Cell ReportThe man considered to be the father of the $12 billion California stem cell agency popped up in the news twice this month, once in a $38 million Sacramento lawsuit and then again as the host this month of a Biden campaign fundraiser whose tickets cost as much as $100,000.
Sheersha Sulack and Donald Kohn (with glasses) earlier this year on the day she received a cell treatment.One year ago this month, five-year-old Sheersha Sulack asked Santa to bring her a suitcase to carry her toys with her for an arduous treatment that her parents hoped would save her from a rare, life-threatening affliction known as the bubble baby disease. Development of the therapy is part of a unique effort that has put the Golden State at the forefront of the development of gene and cell therapies.
CIRM Board Chairman Vito Imbasciani, with interim president Jonathan Thomas, photo courtesy of CIRMThe former chairman of the California stem cell agency is back on the job with the $12 billion agency – this time as its interim president while a search proceeds for a permanent chief executive officer.
The Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research building at University of California Irvine, a CIRM major facility. Photo courtesy of CIRMCalifornia’s $12 billion stem cell and gene therapy program could be treading water for the next 12 months in the view of at least one of its leaders as it searches for a new president of the 19-year-old enterprise. Past presidential searches have been burdened by a legal, dual executive arrangement that has been described by a former board member as a “dog’s breakfast.”