California's stem cell boom spurs research bonanza

As head of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Dr. Alan Trounson is pushing hard to inspire a medical revolution in the space of a single decade. The Wall Street Journal looks at the rapidly changing research field, and how California's $3 billion commitment to stem cell research over 10 years has already triggered a $1.2 billion boom in spending on new research facilities.

The institute says the initial burst of investment has already drawn 24 top scientists to the state with 33 younger researchers joining the migration to California. But the new facilities being built will house 2,200 researchers, the equivalent of the entire membership of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. Now Trounson is preparing to fund disease teams at a cost of $20 million each that can advance therapies to the clinic in five years. The institute is considering a new loan fund that would give the state a stake in commercial successes.

- read the article from the Wall Street Journal

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