Of all California's newspapers, The
Sacramento Bee, the only daily paper in the state capital, has long
been the most critical – editorially – of the Golden State's $3
billion stem cell research agency.

“Stem cell agency finally addresses
potential for conflicts”

 “He hasn't
gone as far as we would like, or that independent outside reviewers
have recommended....But he's achieved what's possible, at least for
now, and the board may empower him to go further.”

“We
think Thomas and the oversight board should go further and adopt the
Institute of Medicine recommendations. But that is politically
unlikely. As is now obvious, it will be up to the Legislature to
fully remove representatives of funding-eligible institutions from
being involved in decisions about grants that could come back to
them.

“Thomas, to his credit, recognizes
that his compromise may not be the perfect solution. He wants to test
out the new policy for a year, and see how it works. There's a lot
riding on the outcome. CIRM is expected to run out of funds in 2017,
and while philanthropy and foundation money could extend that for a
few years, supporters of California stem cell research clearly want
to go back to the ballot to seek additional funding. To make that
case, CIRM supporters can't afford any more scandals about insider
dealing. The next year will reveal whether it is on the right track.”

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/NowG2d8N5CM/modest-approval-from-long-time-stem.html