San Francisco Getting Stem Cell Agency HQ

karvind writes "San Francisco was chosen Friday as the headquarters for California's new stem cell agency, beating out San Diego, Sacramento and Emeryville. The stem cell institute was created in November after voters overwhelmingly approved a measure allowing the state to borrow $3 billion to fund human embryonic stem cell research. According to Yahoo, the plans call for a 17,000-square-foot office with a maximum of 50 employees who will help dole out nearly $300 million in research grants annually over 10 years."

Comments

"Ban"

[XanC]

That's right people, there is no federal ban on stem cell research of any kind. No matter what the media tries to tell you.

Re:"Ban"

[Anonymous Coward]

When government funds research, it gets published. Everyone gets to use the knowledge that comes from it. In private research, that's not the case.

Oh, it would be nice if it were the case. But alas I think you need to look more carefully at the epidemic of publicly funded research which winds up being "owned" lock stock and barrel by private companies. Ever hear of the Bayh-Dole act?

I want there to be public funding of the sciences. But we are in need of serious review of how our public research money is disseminated and used.

Re:"Ban"

[jfern]

Those 60 cell lines are crap.

I Know

[certsoft]

They could just remodel "Colossus" programming headquarters. How's that for an obscure reference?

It's worse than that.

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a ban on federal funding for stem cell research.

It's worse than that. There's a ban on stem cell research if you've received federal funding. If you have in the past received federal money, if any of that federal money went to facilities, etc, you can't do stem cell research with anything that money's touched. Not facilities, buildings, desk chairs, whatever.

So, the government offers these groups money. They get pretty much every important research institution infected with having received this money. Then suddenly they bait and switch and announce they're banning anyone who's received this money from doing vital medical research because it offends their leaders' religious sensibilities. Then they get to shrug, do a "who me", and have their lackeys on slashdot claim they didn't ban anything. Neat trick.

Re:Biggest story of the day

[One Childish N00b]

Google wasn't hacked, that's just your browser redirecting to google.com.net because .com was down - it's the default behaviour for Safari, as far as I recall, isn't it? (notice how http://www.google.com.net/ is the page your screenshot shows?). The real issue is the major DNS poisoning going on, seemingly centered around gulli.com, seemingly a German hacking/cracking site (not directly linking, possible spyware risk);

Open a terminal and run a whois on any major search site you can think of - google.com, yahoo.com, altavista.com, etc - you'll get results like:

matt@site-4:~$ whois altavista.com

Whois Server Version 1.3

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

Server Name: ALTAVISTA.COM.IS.N0T.AS.1337.AS.SEARCH.GULLI.COM
IP Address: 80.190.192.4
Registrar: KEY-SYSTEMS GMBH
Whois Server: whois.rrpproxy.net
Referral URL: http://www.key-systems.net/


So wake up Slashdot! No need for the coverup, it wasn't just your baby Google that got damaged, there's something serious going on that definately is 'News for Nerds' and you're posting stories about stem cells (admittedly fairly important) and some loser being picky about his motherboard.

Mod me and all these other posts Offtopic, but please, editor on duty, whoever you are, give us someplace to discuss this.

I'm an idiot. Mod me down.

[mark-t]

Mod me down as offtopic, troll, or just plain wrong...

I realized after I pressed enter that I was confusing this with stem cells harvested from the umbilical cord

Re:"Ban" --- Pleeeeze... Get it Right just once.

[Anonymous Coward]

The ban is on stem cell research derived from human embryos. And to be much more specific it is a federal ban on *NEW* embryos.

Here is an actual snippet from the prez:

"As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines already exist" I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem cell lines " where the life and death decision has already been made", This allows us to explore the promise and potential of stem cell research" without crossing a fundamental moral line by providing taxpayer funding that would sanction or encourage further destruction of human embryos that have at least the potential for life."
-- George W. Bush

The Real Thing

And yes, that means that FEDERAL FUNDING *IS* ALLOWED for embrionic stem cells.

There is *NO* limitation on other types of stem cells.

And we already have created products from adult hair, skin, bone and blood stem cells. Most medical researchers insist that embrionic stem cells have less potential than other types of stem cells.

California has literally jumped the shark. Any facility that would like to touch that money *MUST* do embrionic stem cell research exclusivily.

This is equilivent to Wyoming deciding that ARM processors may save lives and setting up a research fund. In order to touch the fund you must do verifiable research on the ARM processor.

And yes, it really *IS* as silly as that. And we are not talking about magical money.... It is strictly tax payer money. Remember that last pizza... well forget it...

Re:It's worse than that...... THIS IS BUNK!

[Anonymous Coward]

It is Embrionic Stem Cells.....

And federal funding is not restricted on the current lines of EMBRIOS. It is restricted on *NEW* Embrios.

And it is *NOT* Backword looking. Geeze...
Moderators, please MODERATE!

Here is a link to the real story
And for thoes challenged:
Embryonic Stem Cell Research
August 9, 2001

"As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines already exist" I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem cell lines " where the life and death decision has already been made", This allows us to explore the promise and potential of stem cell research" without crossing a fundamental moral line by providing taxpayer funding that would sanction or encourage further destruction of human embryos that have at least the potential for life."
-- George W. Bush

Federal funding of research using existing embryonic stem cell lines is consistent with the President's belief in the fundamental value and sanctity of human life. The President's decision reflects his fundamental commitment to preserving the value and sanctity of human life and his desire to promote vital medical research. The President's decision will permit federal funding of research using the more than 60 existing stem cell lines that have already been derived, but will not sanction or encourage the destruction of additional human embryos. The embryos from which the existing stem cell lines were created have already been destroyed and no longer have the possibility of further development as human beings. Federal funding of medical research on these existing stem cell lines will promote the sanctity of life " without undermining it " and will allow scientists to explore the potential of this research to benefit the lives of millions of people who suffer from life destroying diseases.

Federal funds will only be used for research on existing stem cell lines that were derived: (1) with the informed consent of the donors; (2) from excess embryos created solely for reproductive purposes; and (3) without any financial inducements to the donors. In order to ensure that federal funds are used to support only stem cell research that is scientifically sound, legal, and ethical, the NIH will examine the derivation of all existing stem cell lines and create a registry of those lines that satisfy this criteria. More than 60 existing stem cell lines from genetically diverse populations around the world are expected to be available for federally-funded research.

No federal funds will be used for: (1) the derivation or use of stem cell lines derived from newly destroyed embryos; (2) the creation of any human embryos for research purposes; or (3) the cloning of human embryos for any purpose. Today's decision relates only to the use of federal funds for research on existing stem cell lines derived in accordance with the criteria set forth above.

The President will create a new President's Council on Bioethics, chaired by Dr. Leon Kass, an expert in biomedical ethics and a professor at the University of Chicago, to study the human and moral ramifications of developments in biomedical and behaviorial science and technology. The Council will study such issues as embryo and stem cell research, assisted reproduction, cloning, genetic screening, gene therapy, euthanasia, psychoactive drugs, and brain implants.

BACKGROUND

Embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells, which come from the inner cell mass of a human embryo, have the potential to develop into all or nearly all of the tissues in the body. The scientific term for this characteristic is "pluripotentiality."

Adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are unspecialized, can renew themselves, and can become specialized to yield all of the cell types of the tissue from which they originate. Although scientists believe that some adult stem cells from one tissue can develop

you can do stem cell research with federal money

[thinkliberty]

Sorry. But you CAN do stem cell research with federal money.

Here are the basic guidelines:

Federal funds will only be used for research on existing stem cell lines that were derived: (1) with the informed consent of the donors; (2) from excess embryos created solely for reproductive purposes; and (3) without any financial inducements to the donors. In order to ensure that federal funds are used to support only stem cell research that is scientifically sound, legal, and ethical, the NIH will examine the derivation of all existing stem cell lines and create a registry of those lines that satisfy this criteria. More than 60 existing stem cell lines from genetically diverse populations around the world are expected to be available for federally-funded research.

No federal funds will be used for: (1) the derivation or use of stem cell lines derived from newly destroyed embryos; (2) the creation of any human embryos for research purposes; or (3) the cloning of human embryos for any purpose. Today's decision relates only to the use of federal funds for research on existing stem cell lines derived in accordance with the criteria set forth above.

See:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/08/20 010809-1.html

Re:Sigh......

[eluusive]

I hear what you said repeated by Anti-Abortionists repeatedly. Honestly though, It's not true. For a simple explanation of the difference see this FAQ entry: http://www.stemcellresearchfoundation.org/About/FA Q.htm#4

For many years, scientists have conducted studies to determine whether the stem cells in adult tissue have the same developmental capability as embryonic stem cells. The general consensus is that adult stem cells seem to be less versatile. Scientists think that embryonic stem cells have a much greater utility and potential than the adult stem cells, because embryonic stem cells may develop into virtually every type of cell in the human body. Adult stem cells, on the other hand, may only be able to develop into a limited number of cell types. Embryonic stem cells also continue to divide indefinitely when placed in culture, while this may not be the case for adult stem cells and this would reduce their capacity to form new cell types. Both adult and embryonic stem cell research should continue simultaneously as they are both critical to our understanding of the etiology, progression and treatment of disease.

While this page is rather neutral between the two, the difference is actually pretty substantial. Especially in regards to their ability to change type, and in their ability to divide indefinately. It has not been shown that adult stem cells do this.

Re:Sigh......

[isurge]

and healthcare 'costs' will not be solved with more money .... :-) lol you got to read more about health care costs basically the good ole USA is getting ripped off day after day .... you give more money and the health care industry will bleed you more .... money is not the solution ... what I do when I feel like I am getting ripped off is go some place else and try and get back my money where I got ripped off ... I suggest you do the same... I go to ***** **** once a year for more than the beaches.

It's much more of a scam than you'd expect

[billstewart]

They're doing something like $3B in bond issues up front, and after they've borrowed all the money and gotten it locked in to their non-profit corporation, *then* they'll start doling it out over many years. That means that there's no way for the state government to control it, or to cut back the amount of money if they get into budget trouble or if they're not satisfied with the results. It's a great deal for the scammers who end up running it, but it's also going to cut down on the state's willingness to invest in other science projects.

While much of the opposition to the bond issue was from those of us with ethical objections to the research, as well as objections to using bonds to fund things that should be funded from general-fund tax revenues instead, some of the strongest arguments against the proposition in the official debates were made by people who support government-funded stem cell research and thought that the whole project was an overpriced scam.