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.
A research scientist examines a capsule with a DNA double helix. (Photo: Dan Race, via Shutterstock)One year ago this month, a $5.5 billion wave washed over California’s ambitious stem cell agency and left it refreshed and renewed for another decade or so of searching for “miraculous” treatments for a host of deadly, incurable afflictions. It is now on a pace to hand out $38,000 an hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That would amount to $519 million in awards between this time last year and the end of the agency’s current fiscal year in June.
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.