CGS-authored
The debate over stem-cell research has been stirred again - this time by the unlikeliest of sources.
For months, state Sen. Deborah Ortiz has been the strongest political voice in favor of California's bid to earmark $3 billion for stem-cell research. From southern California to the halls of Washington, she took part in public forums and bandied words with the Bush administration to promote Proposition 71, the initiative that eventually passed last month.
So when she recently said the plan was so flawed that it needed to be corrected by legislative decree, Senator Ortiz gave rise to a perplexing question: What has California gotten itself into?
Only half-joking, some scientists say California is set to become NIH West - a Pacific Coast counterweight to the federal National Institutes of Health. The concern is that no state has ever attempted a scientific venture of this magnitude and complexity, and some wonder if the state can handle it.
As other states from Wisconsin to New Jersey rush to counter California's massive investment by setting aside stem-cell money of their own, California is...
For months, state Sen. Deborah Ortiz has been the strongest political voice in favor of California's bid to earmark $3 billion for stem-cell research. From southern California to the halls of Washington, she took part in public forums and bandied words with the Bush administration to promote Proposition 71, the initiative that eventually passed last month.
So when she recently said the plan was so flawed that it needed to be corrected by legislative decree, Senator Ortiz gave rise to a perplexing question: What has California gotten itself into?
Only half-joking, some scientists say California is set to become NIH West - a Pacific Coast counterweight to the federal National Institutes of Health. The concern is that no state has ever attempted a scientific venture of this magnitude and complexity, and some wonder if the state can handle it.
As other states from Wisconsin to New Jersey rush to counter California's massive investment by setting aside stem-cell money of their own, California is...