Medical News Today reports on the first seed grants awarded by the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI). "The grants will support research aimed at advancing the understanding of stem cell biology and developing new therapeutic approaches to several diseases, among them cancer, diabetes, kidney disease, muscle disease, Parkinson's disease, and retinal blindness. Five of the twelve projects will involve human embryonic stem cells, including using or creating new stem cell lines that are not eligible for federal funding. ... The awards put particular emphasis on projects that might be difficult to fund from other sources either because a project is considered to be 'high risk/high payoff,' or because the research is ineligible for federal funding under the current federal restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research."

Link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=23624