Japan's Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) is aggressively recruiting researchers for its new Center for Developmental Biology, including scientists who want to work with human embryonic stem cells. The Japanese government has pledged to provide a budget of $48 million (US) per year to the center, which aims to recruit 30 research teams staffed with 250 scientists. Currently the center has 25 research teams, including a laboratory for stem cell biology, and a stem cell organogenesis team.
In the United States, where President George W. Bush allowed federal funding for research on only 60 stem cell lines existing in 2001, a private philanthropist has challenged others to step up the research. Intel Chairman Andy Grove has donated $5 million to a matching fund to finance a new embryonic stem cell program at the University of California, San Francisco. The following agencies and organizations provide grants for stem cell ...
