Private Stem Cell Funding Returning?
It's good to see any sign of private philanthropic funding for embryonic stem cell research. Up until very recently, the strong possibility of criminalization of this research had scared away all but the hardiest funding organizations. "Inadequate federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research gives private funding in this area an exceptionally high impact, and we are very grateful for the investment that [the W.M. Keck Foundation] is making here. ... This grant unites expertise in engineering, bioinformatics and stem cell biology in a way that is unprecedented, and it provides a glimpse of the future of biological research." This is important work - finding out exactly how embryonic stem cells differentiate and how to control this process.