After over two years of stalling out under legal tangles, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) may begin distributing grants for stem cell research, the California Supreme Court ruled yesterday (May 16). In its ruling, the Court honored the decision of a lower state court that upheld the constitutionality of Proposition 71, the act that implemented CIRM in 2004."Finally the day has come when we're free from the frivolous lawsuits that have been holding us back," Bernard Siegel, Executive Director of the Genetics Policy Institute, told The Scientist. According to CIRM's Web site, CIRM will begin distributing $48.5 million in funding for shared laboratories grants and $222 million in grants for research at California universities, hospitals, and research institutes.According to a report in the San Jose Mercury News, Dana Cody, the attorney for one of the plaintiffs, Life Legal Defense Foundation, said CIRM may face...

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