Some observers caution against too much hype about new jobs and opportunities, noting the long lead time required for drug production. Nevertheless, analysts and government officials anticipate a major upsurge in research once the new funding kicks in. Lana Skirboll, associate director for science policy at the National Institutes of Health, says she expects the number of funding requests involving human ESCs to increase "asymptotically" with the availability of federal funds. "We're hoping we will get a lot of applications," Skirboll notes. NIH has been accepting research grant applications since Oct. 1.
"The skill sets of how to increase stem cell numbers [are] going to be needed if this area is to grow good commercial products," explains Wei-Wu He, general partner and cofounder of Emerging Technology Partners LLC, a biotech venture capital firm in Rockville, Md. "Those skills will be quite in demand." The volume of job openings, he says, ...
