The University of Connecticut has created two stem cell lines from human embryos and is making the lines available to labs for research on potential therapies, even as California struggles to maintain funding for its own research program.
In 2005, Gov. M. Jodi Rell authorized a Connecticut General Assembly bill for the state to spend $100 million on stem-cell research over 10 years, making Connecticut, California and New Jersey the only three states to have authorized public funding for the purpose.
The Connecticut initiative was funded with $20 million in surplus funds from 2006 and 2007, and the rest from Connecticut”™s share of a national settlement with tobacco companies. Connecticut legislators are now scrambling to close a $6 billion budget gap over the next two years.
By contrast, California has been funding its $3 billion initiative through the sale of bonds, and the state is currently weighing whether to continue funding.
Connecticut received nearly 90 proposals for $10 million in funds released last April and approved nearly $1 million for a cloning lab among other initiatives.
In 2007, initial funding for the program was used to create a $2.5 million human embryonic stem cell laboratory at the UConn Health Center, led by Dr. Ren-He Xu. The lines were developed by Dr. Ge Lin and coworkers at that lab.
Other institutions that have segregated human embryonic stem cells include Harvard University and the University of California San Francisco.
In Connecticut, Yale University and Wesleyan University have also received stem-cell funding from the state, using the money to build labs, initiate research, recruit faculty, and spur collaboration between researchers.
Connecticut United for Research Excellence is organizing the StemCONN 09 conference for March 23-24 in New Haven, where CURE is based.
