Stem Cells and 'Things that Go Bump in the Night'

What's going on with those CIRM scholars, those folks whose education is being assisted by the California stem cell agency?

Reporter Bradley J. Fikes of the North County Times in San Diego County wrote about 32 of them, including some from fields such as bioengineering, bioinformatics and chemistry. Among other things, Fikes said that ethical training occupies one-third of the curriculum in this particular program.

Fikes quoted Larry Goldstein, director of UC San Diego's stem cell program, as telling the scholars that they have an obligation to become missionaries – not Goldstein's word – for ESC research. Goldstein said:

"Some of you have been studying fish and flies and things that go bump in the night. It's not always obvious to the public how this relates to humans. For better or worse, the world is watching us, not just in San Diego, but in California."

CIRM Scholar Produces Mouse Brain Finding

There it was – in the 4th paragraph of the press release – a CIRM scholar produces a newsworthy finding as the result of "some of the first research funded by the California stem cell agency," according to one reporter.

Rebecca Vesely of the Contra Costa Times highlighted the CIRM connection in her story about the research at UC San Francisco that suggests "stem cells in the brain have a surprising capacity to repair damaged tissue." She said that researchers indicated that "the findings could help in the quest for treatments of brain trauma such as stroke."

Chay Kuo, a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF, led the study. The press release from UC San Francisco said:

"Kuo is one of 16 UCSF CIRM Stem Cell Scholars – up and coming young scientists funded by the California Institute for Regeneration (sic) Medicine, established by California voters in 2004 to allocate $3 billion over 10 years to support stem cell research."

Vesely noted that funding also came from the National Institutes of Health. She also wrote:

"Kuo said he received a $45,000 stipend, plus funds for medical benefits and a $10,000 allowance for research costs.

"'It allows trainees independence,' he said. 'It's given me incredible freedom to do my research.'"

Obviously the research is of considerable interest, but what adds to it is the CIRM-funding connection. One of the abiding concerns at the agency is producing results that fulfill the promise of Prop. 71. This is the first such event the agency can point to, albeit only as a modest funding effort.

Kuo's research, to be published in Cell magazine, also received news coverage internationally, but there was little mention of the CIRM connection. Other California newspapers also do not seem to have picked up on the CIRM relationship. The agency itself has not posted anything on Kuo at the time of this writing.