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 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.
Signature gathering during the 2018 election cycle. (Photo: Michael Gordon, via Shutterstock)The $5.5 billion California stem cell initiative is virtually certain to qualify for the fall ballot as the arithmetic of the signature count begins to fall into place. The measure needs only slightly more than the 67 percent of the signatures that remain to be verified as coming from registered voters. The qualification percentage of raw signatures so far is 78 percent.
A photo illustration of the coronavirus pandemic and California. (Photo: bekulnis, via Shutterstock)The state of California and its top medical regulator remain mired in a go-slow posture on the regulation of “snake oil” stem cell clinics that are currently riding the COVID-19 crisis to peddle dubious treatments to desperate patients. The marketing surge by the clinics has drawn increased attention nationally, including in prestigious scientific journals such as Cell Stem Cell whose usual fare deals with such things as “Stem Cell Hierarchy in Colorectal Cancer.”
A laboratory researcher examines cancer stem cells. (Image: science photo, via Shutterstock)Backers of a $5.5 billion stem cell research proposal in California today have once again missed a self-imposed, but critical deadline as they continue to struggle with securing enough signatures to place the measure on the November ballot.
A lineup of mailboxes in rural California. (Photo: Elena Koulik, via Shutterstock)The campaign to save California’s stem cell research program from financial extinction is making an “unprecedented,” electronic sprint to gather the final signatures to qualify its $5.5 billion rescue measure for the November ballot.
A clinical researcher with a multi-pipette arrangement of cancer stem cells. (Photo: Science Photo, via Shutterstock)One of the nation’s leading regenerative medicine industry groups is touting multi-billion dollar savings that may be achieved with the type of stem cell and gene therapies that are being developed with cash from California’s financially beleaguered stem cell program.
Stem cells for treating cancer in microtubes. (Image: Science Photo, via Shutterstock)Backers of the financially stressed California stem cell agency yesterday filed their proposed ballot measure to refinance the agency with $5.5 billion if voters approve it in November 2020. The complex, 30-page initiative would also restructure a number of aspects of the agency and provide for financial assistance for patients and their families who might be involved in clinical trials.
A scientist examines cells in a biological laboratory. (Photo: anyalvanova, via Shutterstock)The man expected to lead the drive for $5.5 billion more for California’s stem cell agency today said the Trump restrictions on fetal tissue research represent a dangerous precedent that threatens the health of all Americans.
A photo illustration of human DNA. (Photo: Shutterstock)Plans to ask California voters in 2018 to approve a $5 billion bond issue to finance the California stem cell agency have been shelved, a director of the agency said Thursday. Jeff Sheehy, a San Francisco county supervisor, said that the key backer of the proposal had informed him that no bond measure would be offered to voters before 2020, presumably at the presidential general election.