Sunday, December 17, 2006

New Jersey provides money for stem cell research

In another installment of the New Jersey stem cell saga, AP reports that Governor Corzine plans to announce on Dec. 18 that $10 million dollars in grants will be made available for stem cell research. A senior NJ administration official said $7 million of the $10 million would go toward embryonic stem cell research not [well] supported by federal funding.

LifeNews reported that the New Jersey legislature has finalized approval of a bill that would have the state spend $270 million on new stem cell research centers.

The New York Times (David W. Chen) noted: When completed, the projects could generate about $1 billion in economic activity and create thousands of jobs, according to a recent study from Rutgers University.

IPBiz notes that Chen and Rutgers might want to review the paper by Roger G. Noll of Stanford University.

***
Back in South Korea, Lee Byeong-chun, a veterinary professor of Seoul National University and collaborator of Hwang Woo Suk, announced the successful cloning of a female Afghan hound. This research is more in the area of reproductive cloning than in therapeutic cloning. "We knew that this was possible because we cloned a male dog, but it was necessary to prove that," Lee told The Associated Press. "This was a process that must be done to see if a cloned dog has reproduction capabilities."

The news release is related to publication of the work; the dog itself was born June 18, 2006. Lee said his paper on cloning the female dogs appeared on the Web site of academic journal Theriogenology last week.

[from AP.]

***
Californiastemcellreport discussed a Terri Somers piece on embryonic stem cell work which appeared on Sunday, Dec. 17. This included:

"'Here we are again, sitting on the beginning of another revolution, a possible way to provide cures rather than treatments," said Chris Mason, a stem cell researcher at University College London. 'The U.K., Singapore and other countries realize what might be within their grasp if they spend the money on the front end, and they don't want to miss it.'

"The United States, long the world leader in biomedical research and commercialization, is getting a taste of being the underdog."


You can almost here him say: now there you go again.

Californiastemcellreport also talk about the greenlining report:

"...(R)esearchers and firms that obtain patents on health care technology, such as stem cell advancements, have virtually no incentive or authorization to ensure fair access to innovations in medical treatment. Without an adjustment in patent law, the cost of patent licenses in the stem cell industry will impact costs of any potential products. Because researchers have to recoup the costs of licenses, prices are driven up, with the greatest burden ultimately falling on disadvantaged communities of color. The CIRM currently includes provisions for affordability in their intellectual property policies that may be used as models for future state-funded research programs."

"Conference participants also voiced their concerns over how the tens of thousands of employment opportunities to be created with the state’s investment into stem cell research will be distributed fairly among all Californians. These jobs take the form of research positions, CIRM career staff, and supplier contracts. In his presentation, Joe Tayag from the Greenlining Institute showed that there were over 60 different types of supplier services used by a large biotech company. These jobs range from advertising, to catering, to furniture manufacturing.

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