NJ to vote on stem cell bond act

New Jersey residents will vote tomorrow (November 6) whether to devote $450 million to stem cell research over the next ten years.The referendum, introduced by state Governor Jon Corzine in July, would, if passed, put New Jersey among a group of states, including California, New York and Massachusetts, that have devoted extensive funds to stem cell research. According to the Governor's press release, this act "authorizes the sale of state general obligation funds in the amount of $450 million over 10 years" to be given to stem cell researchers. Under conditions of a bond sale, which is like taking a loan from the state funds, purchasers are exempt from interest on the bond, which is paid by the state. The release does not say whether this money can be directed toward research on human embryonic stem cells or somatic cell nuclear transfer -- both of which are permitted in New Jersey if supported by private funding. The governor's office did not respond to several requests for comment. "This funding will [give] New Jersey a significant boost that's going to build on the existing infrastructure, and put dollars into get the research moving," Martin Grumet, director of the W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience and a professor at Rutgers University, NJ, told The Scientist. Last year, Corzine signed into law a bill that provided $270 million for new research facilities -- $150 million of which will go to the New Jersey Stem Cell Institute. Recently, New Jersey has allocated smaller grants to support stem cell research, but on the whole the state has been somewhat behind other states, said Grumet.Under the new funding plan no more than $45 million a year will be given in research grant money each year for the next ten years. "We've seen a dramatic increase in the number of applications received," since the funding projects began, Joshua Trojak, director of the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology told The Scientist. "A lot of scientists have submitted a lot of comments and recommendations on how to improve the process, and we're going to take those issues to heart if this initiative passes." Research grants will be evaluated by an independent research review committee. The state will wait to assemble the panel if and when the bond act passes, Trojak said, and reviewers' identities will likely be revealed to applicants if they request it, as has happened with previous grant decisions."Hopefully, the 'if we build it they will come' attitude will work in New Jersey," Kateri Moore, bone marrow stem cell researcher and associate professor at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, NY, told The Scientist. Moore and her husband, Ihor Lemischka, now director of the Black Family Stem Cell Institute at Mt. Sinai, recently left Princeton University after nearly two decades. "We were concerned with the direction that the New Jersey effort was headed, and the lack of prominent stem cell biologists in New Jersey."Indeed, added Moore, the numerous large pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey seem to have taken the place of academic endeavors in stem cell science. "There's a lot of collaboration with industry," Grumet said. "This is a signal to industry that New Jersey is going to invest in the science to help build the infrastructure."The bill has already met with opposition from an anti-abortion group who filed a lawsuit last month claiming that the bond act would finance the creation and destruction of cloned human beings. A New Jersey appeals court ruled unanimously on October 26 that the stem cell funding initiative remain on the November 6 ballot, perhaps establishing that New Jersey will likely avoid some of the troubles that stalled California from fully implementing its stem cell funding, added Grumet. "We've learned a lot from California, we've looked at a lot of obstacles they've had to overcome," added Trojak. "We've taken that into account in our work."Andrea Gawrylewski mail@the-scientist.comLinks within this article:B. Grant, "More money for Calif. stem cell research," The Scientist, September 7, 2007. http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53570/A. Gawrylewski, "Stem cell funding in the NY pipeline," The Scientist, March 26, 2007. http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/22357/ E. Zielinksa, "Mass. finalizing life science bill," The Scientist, July 3, 2007. http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/53359/Martin Grumet http://lifesci.rutgers.edu/˜molbiosci/faculty/grumet.htmlA. McCook, "Stem cells in New Jersey," The Scientist, August 19, 2005. http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/22357/ Black Family Stem Cell Institute http://www.mssm.edu/research/centers/bfsci/ /A. Gawrylewski, "Calif. stem cell agency back on track?" The Scientist, October 4, 2007. http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/53676/

NJ to vote on stem cell bond act

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