After seeing an ambitious $3 billion effort to back stem cell research get tied up in court, California's Institute for Regenerative Medicine finally got on track with the announcement of 72 research grants totaling $45 million for the next two years. Next month the state is expected to announce $80 million in grants, a move that will make it the single largest backer of embryonic stem cell work in the nation, far outstripping the limited federal support that flows to the field. The money is coming from both private sources and state borrowing. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced last year that he would lend $150 million to the institute to begin its work.

- see the release [1] on the grants
- here's the report [2] on the initiative from the San Francisco Chronicle

ALSO: New York lawmakers, meanwhile, have expressed a cool attitude to Governor Eliot Spitzer's proposal to raise $2 billion [3] to back stem cell research projects. Report [4]

Related Articles:
California institute outlines stem-cell strategy. Report [5]
Wealthy supporters back Calif. stem cell research. Report [6]
Calif. gives $150M to stem cell research. Report [7]