Boston Globe Examines California Stem Cell Research Program, Effect On Other State Initiatives

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 14 Feb 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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The Boston Globe on Monday examined the debate over California's human embryonic stem cell research initiative and its effect on other state proposals.

California voters in 2004 approved a plan to invest $3 billion of tax funds over 10 years into embryonic stem cell research. Until last year, most of the initiative's funding was "tied up in lawsuits" filed by conservative opponents who objected to the program's cost or the fact that the research often involves the destruction of human embryos, according to the Globe. Even though the money is now "flowing," supporters of the research acknowledge it could take "years, if not decades, for the grants to pay off," the Globe reports.

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the agency that administers the stem cell funds, has approved 156 research grants totaling $260 million. CIRM also plans to award another $227 million in grants in 2008 to build laboratories at academic and not-for-profit research institutions. Critics have said that the grant process is susceptible to conflicts of interest, but supporters have said the initiative has led dozens of top researchers from worldwide to move to California to conduct research.

Alan Trounson, president of CIRM, said he is optimistic that some treatments will be in clinical trials within 10 years, but it will probably take several years beyond that to be approved by regulators. "The money is not going to have immediate results," Zach Hall, the California institute's former president, said, adding, "That's just not the way science goes."

According to the Globe, the "slow rate of progress" in California's program serves as a "reality check" for Massachusetts, Texas and New York, which have "followed California's lead by placing big bets on medical research." New York has earmarked $600 million for stem cell research, and Texas voters approved a $3 billion commitment to cancer research in November 2007. Massachusetts lawmakers are expected to vote this month on Gov. Deval Patrick's (D) $1 billion life sciences initiative. According to the Globe, Patrick's proposal differs in "key ways" from California's program, including $250 million in tax incentives to encourage companies to expand, as well as no requirement that the funding be restricted to stem cell research (Wallack, Boston Globe, 2/11).

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