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Supposed New Embryonic Stem Cell Research Technique Killed All Embryos by Steven Ertelt LifeNews.com Editor Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A supposedly new method of obtaining embryonic stem cells for research without destroying any human embryos appeared to be untrue. Upon further examination of the research paper making the claims, it appears all of the 16 human embryos Advanced Cell Technology used to come up with the process died during the procedure. The biotech firm made amazing claims that produced a media sensation around the world when it said it had developed a morally ethical method of obtaining the cells. Pro-life...

Biotech company executives in the Bay Area met Tuesday to begin working with California's sputtering stem-cell research institute, which was jump-started last week by the $150 million boost it got from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. ``I feel we are at a very important point in history here,'' said Michael West, chairman and chief scientific officer of Advanced Cell Technology of Alameda. He added that it was essential ``do do everything we possibly can to see that money is well spent.'' Still, the executives who met in San Francisco with officials at the stem-cell institute, created in 2004 when California voters passed...

President Bush's veto of a bill to ease restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem-cell research will hinder California's $3 billion voter-approved effort to turn stem cells into cures, backers of the state-funded research effort said Wednesday. Bush's rejection of the legislation -- his first-ever veto in his 5 1/2 years in office -- shows his continued support for those who oppose, on moral grounds, destroying human embryos to create stem cells in research intended to develop new treatments for grave conditions such as Parkinson's, diabetes and spinal cord injuries. --snip-- The veto was a crushing blow for advocates who hoped...

SACRAMENTO A day after President Bush vetoed a measure that would have expanded federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday authorized a $150 million loan to fund the state's moribund stem cell institute, which has been stalled by lawsuits. The move has distinct political benefits for the governor who is seeking to put as much distance as possible between himself and the deeply unpopular president as he seeks re-election this year. Schwarzenegger said the state cannot afford to wait to fund the critical science associated with stem cells. "I remain committed to advancing stem...

Singer and actress Julie Andrews will be in San Francisco Monday along with composer Marvin Hamlisch for a fundraiser for stem cell research. Andrews and Hamlisch will bring along a supporting cast of Broadway performers for "Reach for Tomorrow, Research Today, which will raise money for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The event begins with a black-tie dinner at San Francisco's City Hall. Tickets range from $1,500 to $10,000. Andrews, 70, is best known for her roles in "The Sound of Music" and "Mary Poppins." She's appeared in recent years on the big screen in "The Princess Diaries." Andrews'...

SAN FRANCISCO - California's $3 billion stem cell research institute won an important victory with a court ruling rejecting challenges to its constitutionality, but the agency's finances remain in limbo while the expected appeals block much of its funding. A state judge ruled Friday that the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine is a legitimate state agency and that two lawsuits challenging it have no merit. The ruling came a month after a four-day trial in which lawyers with connections to anti-abortion groups claimed the country's most ambitious stem cell research agency violated California law because it wasn't a true state...

The fate of the nation's most ambitious stem cell research agency will soon rest in the hands of a California judge as the weeklong trial challenging the institute's legality neared conclusion Wednesday. Three taxpayer groups have alleged in two lawsuits that the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine lacks the proper state government oversight to dole out $3 billion in stem cell grants over the next 10 years. They also accused the board that oversees the agency as being rife with conflict of interests and wrongly exempting itself from the state's open-meeting law. The trial was expected to end Thursday after...

HAYWARD — On the second day of the trial challenging the constitutionality of California's $3 billion stem cell institute, attorneys for the state defended the agency's track record through a key witness. Robert Klein, chairman of the board overseeing the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, took the stand for most of the day, answering questions from both sides about the structure and content of the agency. Klein was the chief architect of Proposition 71, the ballot initiative approved by 59 percent of voters in November 2004 establishing the stem cell agency and authorizing the state to issue $300 million in...

HAYWARD — California's $3 billion, voter-approved stem cell institute went on trial Monday as opponents sought to invalidate the program on grounds that it operates outside state control. The institute violates conflict of interest rules governing state agencies and its officials are not acting in the best interest of taxpayers, attorneys representing taxpayer groups said in opening statements in Alameda County Superior Court. "This agency as it is currently created is not responsive to the people," said David Llewellyn, attorney for the California Family Bioethics Council, one of the groups bringing the suit. Voters in November 2004 approved Proposition 71,...

SACRAMENTO – Of all the questions about California's ambitious plans to publicly finance human cloning projects for medical research, one of the thorniest may be how scientists plan to gather the thousands of eggs they'll need from women. It's an ethical dilemma that has made unlikely allies of Christian groups – who believe cloning immorally creates and destroys life in the name of science – and women's rights activists who fear that poor women will be exploited by commercial interests willing to pay thousands of dollars for human eggs produced by fertility drugs. The issue is not abstract. A small,...

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Even before neuroscientist Zach Hall was formally given the job Tuesday to run California's $3 billion stem cell research institute, his salary came under fire. Charles Halpern, a Berkeley writer who filed a legal petition with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine protesting some of its activities, complained that Hall's $389,004 annual paycheck to serve as interim president was too lucrative. Halpern and other institute critics complained that the institute president should be paid a salary comparable to the head of the National Institutes of Health, which is roughly $100,000 less than Hall's pay. The language...

SAN FRANCISCO – Zach W. Hall, a veteran neuroscientist and associate dean of medical research at the University of Southern California's medical school, was recommended Monday to become interim president of California's new $3 billion stem cell research institute. The recommendation by a subcommittee was passed on to the full 29-member committee appointed to oversee the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which was widely expected to approve it Tuesday during its monthly meeting at Stanford University is widely expected. Hall would take over the interim president slot from Robert N. Klein, who would remain as the committee's chairman. Hall, 67,...

Work on the campaign for Proposition 71 has led to more permanent employment for several former staffers. Five people who worked on the stem cell initiative that voters approved in November are among the first eleven employees of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, which will dole out $3 billion in stem cell research grants. Four of those five staffers will receive salaries ranging from $95,000 to $125,000. The fifth employee's salary has not been determined. Robert Klein, chairman of the citizens oversight committee that will govern the institute, had the committee's approval to hire a skeleton staff. He told...

Ten of the 29 directors of California's new stem cell program serve on biotech or pharmaceutical firms' boards of directors or have extensive holdings in those industries, leading critics to challenge their ability to fairly represent taxpayers in doling out $3 billion in state funds. Members of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, created by voter passage of the stem cell initiative in November, reported interests ranging from real estate to movie production in statements of economic interest filed this week. Six members, including Sacramento physician Francisco Prieto and University of California, Davis, medical school head Claire Pomeroy, had no reportable...

LOS ANGELES – The committee that will dole out $3 billion in state grants for stem cell research heard yesterday from critics and some of its own members who said the group should slow down in its race to get money to scientists. As the committee met for the second time, one of the overriding messages from the public and some of the committee members was to start by establishing standards for complicated and weighty issues such as how to reimburse taxpayers for their investment. "No one wants results to come back faster than I do," said committee member Joan...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Complaints are mounting that a newly created California stem cell agency has failed to keep the public informed of its actions as it begins doling out $3 billion in taxpayer-provided grants. Still others complain the agency hasn't developed rules to prevent its managers from unjustly enriching themselves and their employers. Many of the 29 board members, appointed by the governor and other elected officials to run the agency, represent research universities and the biotechnology industry, both of which are expected to win millions of dollars worth of grants. The criticism picked up this week as the...