Mass files life science legislation

Yesterday, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick proposed life science research legislation that he linkurl:first suggested;http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=pressreleases&agId=Agov3&prModName=gov3pressrelease&prFile=agov3_pr_070508_life_science_initiative.xml in May. When I covered the discussion on this bill linkurl:last month;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/53359/ , Governor Patrick's administration was still hammering out the details for the $1 billion, 10 year spending plan, called the Life Sciences Initiative. The plan includes funding to build the infrastructure for a stem cell bank, and an RNAi research institute among other projects. With advice from many sides, Patrick made the final touches to the plan, which included solidifying the details about the governance body -- The Massachusetts Life Sciences Institute -- that would oversee spending the research portion of the funds. The legislation indicates that the Institute's board will grow from its current five members to a total of seven, and will be advised by a 10 member committee from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative. In an interesting side note, reported by...