Posted on 03/16/2007 7:38:23 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
California's stem cell agency announced Friday that it will hand out about $75 million in research grants to a dozen universities and nonprofit laboratories, only a month after doling out $45 million for studies.
The grants far exceed the federal government's annual outlay.
"As of today, California is the largest and most stable source of funding for human embryonic stem cell research in the world," said Robert N. Klein, chairman of the oversight committee that governs the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Some of the money will go to researchers looking for ways to fight Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's diseases and to grow nerve and liver cells.
The new grants will help California in "blazing the trail" in stem cell research, state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez said at a news conference.
The 29-member Independent Citizens Oversight Committee approved 29 grants and the money will be handed out over four years.
As in last month's totals, the University of California was the biggest recipient, with five campuses receiving more than $42 million worth of grants. UC San Francisco was the biggest winner, with seven grants worth nearly $17.4 million, followed by Stanford University with six grants valued at about $15.2 million.
An additional $1.1 million went to UC San Francisco and UC Irvine researchers for grants that had not been approved by the institute last month but were funded under the previous outlays.
Unlike earlier offerings, all of the new grants will go to scientists with experience in the field of stem cell research. The grants were aimed at supporting "mature, ongoing studies," according to a statement from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Californians voted in 2004 to create the institute and authorize it to borrow and spend $3 billion, but two lawsuits challenging the agency's constitutionality were filed by lawyers connected to anti-abortion groups and tax advocates.
Those suits have prevented it from borrowing that money from Wall Street bond markets.
In the meantime, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger authorized a state loan of $150 million and another $31 million in loans were contributed by philanthropic organizations. The first grants came from that pool of money.
The research aims to use stem cells - created in the first days after conception and giving rise to all the organs and tissues - to replace diseased tissue. But the work has opponents, including President Bush, because embryos are destroyed in the process.
They must have money growing on trees there.
I have a microscope send me some of that cash.
How much of this money will actually be used for the research? Chances are the vast majority of the money will be used for generous salaries, expensive seminar trips, and fancy lunches.
Frankly, it would be better if they wasted all of it rather than using it to murder embryos.
Possibly.
Government has plenty of ways to waste money, and if they're going to waste it, might as well be on something potentially worthwhile like this research.
Good for California I guess. I'm not paying those taxes.
The citizens of CA passed a bond issue a couple of years ago, alotting a huge sum (I can't remember how much, maybe 400 M) for stem cell research...embryonic stem cell research. This is only a drop in the bucket.
Or on the other kind of stem cell research. The one that doesn't kill embryos, but actualy helps people...you know the one that almost is NEVER mentioned in the majority the MSM coverage of stem cell research.
I think the initiative specifically requires research into fetal stem cells, so it cannot be used for adult stem cell research. Otherwise there wouldn't have been any point in it for the leftists who sponsored it, since their real purpose is not to save lives but to justify abortion.
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