NY Times: CIRM Moves Away From hESC

The New York Times today reported that the California stem cell agency has made a “tacit acknowledgment that the promise of human embryonic stem cells is still far in the future.”

Reporter Andrew Pollack wrote that only 4 of the 14 disease team projects approved by CIRM today involve embryonic stem cells. He said,

"The others will use so-called adult stem cells or conventional drugs intended to kill cancer stem cells, which are thought to give rise to tumors."

Pollack continued,

“The grants thus represent a departure from the program’s original mission. California voters approved the 10-year, $3 billion effort in 2004 largely to get around restrictions on embryonic stem cell research imposed by the administration of President George W. Bush.”

Pollack asked CIRM Chairman Robert Klein about the emphasis on non-hESC projects in the disease team round at news conference today. Klein said that the commitment to voters was to “pursue the very best cell type for each disease.”

Nature magazine also pointed out today that the disease team round involved few grants using hESC.