Fresh Comment

Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society has left a new comment on the Flamm item below. Among other things, she says there were a number of concerns with the Cha grant that were not mentioned in the item about Flamm. She is absolutely correct. We also did not mention that CIRM's scientific reviewers had no idea of the controversy surrounding Cha when they approved the grant. The scientific reviewers knew the name of the applying organization at the time of the review but it was kept secret from CIRM directors when they later ratified the reviewers' decision in public session. That secrecy is part of the official CIRM process. One CIRM official told us later that the Cha grant would not have been approved by the scientific panel if they had been informed of the controversy.