Proposition 71 Has Created a Monster

AP reports that first amendment groups are furious over tight secrecy concerning how $3 billion in tax dollars will be spent. ContraCostaTimes reports on "growing" complaints that the stem cell legislation offers too many opportunities to use stem cell money in California to make institutions rich. And it is certainly true that the stakeholders are running the show: "Many of the 29 board members, appointed by the governor and other elected officials to run the agency, represent research universities and the biotech industry, both of which are expected to win millions of dollars worth of grants."

CEER Grant Totals

In case you missed it (we did), The Chronicle ran a piece discussing the new NIHGR ELSI core grants, including disclosure of the total funding amounts. In case anybody from Case, Duke, Stanford, or UW is tuned in: guys, it is your turn to throw an ASBH party...

Penn Nanotech $11 Million Award - Bioethics Core

Word from the small strange hamlet of Philadelphia that Penn has received its first nanogrant. Story in the Daily Pennsylvanian: "According to Bonnell, the nanotechnology program will work with Penn's Center for Bioethics in order to 'lead the national discussion on the ethical considerations surrounding nanoscale science and its potential impact on humanity.'"