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<b>$271 Million for Research on Stem Cells in California</b>
<i>By ANDREW POLLACK</i>
Published: May 8, 2008
LOS ANGELES - California has awarded $271 million in grants to build 12 stem cell research centers in the state, even as one of the political rationales for the building program might soon disappear.
The awards, announced here Wednesday, represent the largest chunk of money awarded at one time by California's taxpayer-backed stem cell program, which is slated to spend about $3 billion over about a decade.
The universities and research institutes that are receiving the money have said they would spend an additional $560 million on the laboratory construction, money they are trying to raise from donations. The resulting total of $831 million would add nearly 800,000 square feet of research space to house 2,200 scientists.
One reason the buildings are needed is that the Bush administration now prohibits federal financing of research using any human embryonic stem cells derived after August 2001, because creating such cells entails the destruction of human embryos. That has meant that work involving newer stem cell lines cannot share even a microscope with a project that is federally financed.
At the University of California, San Francisco, for instance, stem cell scientists had to work in rented space off-campus for many years. In December 2002, a huge storm caused power failures in the Bay Area, destroying cell lines that were being grown in incubators. Had the work been conducted on campus, backup generators would have kept the incubators operating.
"Several years of work literally went down the drain," said Dr. Arnold Kriegstein, director of the university's stem cell program. The university will now receive $35 million to build a $95 million research center.
But the restrictions might be lifted by a new president as early as next year. All three main presidential candidates have expressed support for expanded financing of human embryonic stem cell research.
"Now that the money is flowing, those federal restrictions are going to be removed," said Jesse Reynolds, a policy analyst at the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, which supports stem cell research but has at times criticized the California project.
Robert N. Klein, the chairman of the board of the California program, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, argued Wednesday that the state could not take for granted that federal restrictions would be lifted. Mr. Klein said Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, had expressed opposition to some types of stem cell research.
Moreover, Mr. Klein and university representatives say that even if the restrictions are lifted, new laboratory space will be needed to expand research and to recruit scientists, who are already flocking to California because of the research financing.
Some officials also said the construction would provide an economic stimulus at a time of a weak economy and a huge state budget deficit. The stem cell program, approved by voters in 2004, is financed by bonds and is largely immune to state budget-cutting pressures.
Alan Trounson, the president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, said the new buildings would allow scientists to work together, accelerating the development of medical treatments.
Proposition 71, the 2004 ballot initiative that authorized the program, limits spending on buildings to 10 percent of the total $3 billion.
Most of the major universities and research institutes in the state, including 9 of the 10 University of California campuses, will get money for new buildings.
Stanford University will get the biggest award, nearly $44 million, to build a $200 million stem cell center.
The University of California, San Diego, teamed up with the nearby Burnham Institute for Medical Research, the Salk Institute and the Scripps Research Institute. The team will receive $43 million for its building.
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article:
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/us/08stem.html?ref=us
">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05...tem.html?ref=us
</a>
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<b>$271 Million for Research on Stem Cells in California</b>
<i>By ANDREW POLLACK</i>
Published: May 8, 2008
LOS ANGELES - California has awarded $271 million in grants to build 12 stem cell research centers in the state, even as one of the political rationales for the building program might soon disappear.
The awards, announced here Wednesday, represent the largest chunk of money awarded at one time by California's taxpayer-backed stem cell program, which is slated to spend about $3 billion over about a decade.
The universities and research institutes that are receiving the money have said they would spend an additional $560 million on the laboratory construction, money they are trying to raise from donations. The resulting total of $831 million would add nearly 800,000 square feet of research space to house 2,200 scientists.
One reason the buildings are needed is that the Bush administration now prohibits federal financing of research using any human embryonic stem cells derived after August 2001, because creating such cells entails the destruction of human embryos. That has meant that work involving newer stem cell lines cannot share even a microscope with a project that is federally financed.
At the University of California, San Francisco, for instance, stem cell scientists had to work in rented space off-campus for many years. In December 2002, a huge storm caused power failures in the Bay Area, destroying cell lines that were being grown in incubators. Had the work been conducted on campus, backup generators would have kept the incubators operating.
"Several years of work literally went down the drain," said Dr. Arnold Kriegstein, director of the university's stem cell program. The university will now receive $35 million to build a $95 million research center.
But the restrictions might be lifted by a new president as early as next year. All three main presidential candidates have expressed support for expanded financing of human embryonic stem cell research.
"Now that the money is flowing, those federal restrictions are going to be removed," said Jesse Reynolds, a policy analyst at the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, which supports stem cell research but has at times criticized the California project.
Robert N. Klein, the chairman of the board of the California program, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, argued Wednesday that the state could not take for granted that federal restrictions would be lifted. Mr. Klein said Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, had expressed opposition to some types of stem cell research.
Moreover, Mr. Klein and university representatives say that even if the restrictions are lifted, new laboratory space will be needed to expand research and to recruit scientists, who are already flocking to California because of the research financing.
Some officials also said the construction would provide an economic stimulus at a time of a weak economy and a huge state budget deficit. The stem cell program, approved by voters in 2004, is financed by bonds and is largely immune to state budget-cutting pressures.
Alan Trounson, the president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, said the new buildings would allow scientists to work together, accelerating the development of medical treatments.
Proposition 71, the 2004 ballot initiative that authorized the program, limits spending on buildings to 10 percent of the total $3 billion.
Most of the major universities and research institutes in the state, including 9 of the 10 University of California campuses, will get money for new buildings.
Stanford University will get the biggest award, nearly $44 million, to build a $200 million stem cell center.
The University of California, San Diego, teamed up with the nearby Burnham Institute for Medical Research, the Salk Institute and the Scripps Research Institute. The team will receive $43 million for its building.
_________
article:
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/us/08stem.html?ref=us
">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05...tem.html?ref=us
</a>
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