Embryonic Stem Cell Funding Draws Scientists to State
The availability of state funding for embryonic stem cell research is helping to bring top scientists to California, PBS' "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" reports (Michels, "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," PBS, 10/8).
Voters approved the creation of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine under Proposition 71, a 2004 ballot measure that authorized the sale of $3 billion in state bonds over 10 years for stem cell research (California Healthline, 10/5).
The funding has helped California universities and research institutes attract scientists from other states and countries that have stronger restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, "NewsHour" reports.
The segment includes comments from:
- Nancy Ascher, a transplant surgeon at UC-San Francisco;
- President Bush;
- Michael Clarke, a cancer and embryonic stem cell researcher at the Stanford Cancer Center;
- Laura Elias, a graduate student at UCSF's stem cell lab;
- Arnold Kriegstein, director of UCSF's developmental and stem cell biology program;
- Christopher Scott, director of Stanford University's Program on Stem Cells in Society;
- Deepak Srivastava, a pediatric cardiologist and embryonic stem cell researcher at the J. David Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco;
- Irving Weissman, head of the Stem Cell Institute at Stanford;
- Former California Controller Steve Westly (D);
- Holger Willenbring, a liver disease and stem cell researcher at UCSF; and
- Shinya Yamanaka, a Japanese embryonic stem cell researcher recruited to Gladstone ("NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," PBS, 10/8).
A transcript and audio of the segment are available online. Video will be available Tuesday afternoon. This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.