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California's Stem Cell Agency Awards First Grants NewsMax.com WiresSACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California's $3 billion stem cell agency awarded its first research grants Friday despite legal challenges that put its future in doubt. "This is really a historic and important occasion for us," said Zach Hall, interim president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Story Continues Below The recipients of the first 16 grants, totaling $39.7 million over three years, included multimillion dollar awards to Stanford University, the California Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California and eight campuses of the University of California. Three nonprofit research labs and the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles also received grants during the monthly meeting of the 29-member Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee, which runs the stem cell agency. But it's unclear when any of the recipients will receive their money. Lawsuits challenging the legality of the stem cell agency have prevented it from borrowing the $3 billion in bond money voters authorized in November. A $5 million charitable donation from sound pioneer Ray Dolby and a $3 million loan from the state have kept the agency afloat and enabled it to hire staff and open a permanent headquarters in San Francisco. But the agency's accountants warn it will run out of money by May without another cash infusion. On Friday, Robert Klein, the chair of the 29-member committee that oversees the agency, said he's seeking an alternative plan that would have charitable organizations buy "bond anticipatory notes," which would be repaid once the lawsuits are resolved and the agency is able to borrow money. If the lawsuits are successful in putting the agency out of business, Klein said the notes would convert to grants to the state. "I don't understand how they can award grants if they don't have money," said Dana Cody, a lawyer with the anti-abortion group Life Legal Defense Foundation, which is suing the committee that oversees the agency. Human embryonic stem cells are created in the first days after conception and give rise to all the organs and tissues in the human body. Scientists hope they can someday use stem cells to replace diseased tissue. But many social conservatives, including President Bush, oppose the work because embryos are destroyed during research. President Bush in 2001 restricted the use of federal money to fund stem cell work, which scientists complain the administration's policy has hampered the field from advancing. Support in Congress is growing to loosen Bush's stem cell funding policy but the president has vowed to veto any such measure. Since 59 percent of the California electorate approved the state's stem cell agency, nine other states have similar proposals pending in their legislatures. © 2005 The Associated Press
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