California’s new stem cell agency is generating a lot of talk — and it’s not all about the ethics of human embryonic research. First Amendment advocates are grousing about the veil of secrecy covering how the agency is coming together and where $3 billion in taxpayer money is going. The criticism started last fall during the debate over Proposition 71, the bond measure ultimately passed by voters that funds the agency, and picked up this week ahead of a key organizational meeting. Board members of the agency meet Thursday to discuss the hiring of a president and full-time staff and to begin setting up committees that will oversee financial functions, including the awarding of laboratory construction contracts and research grants. The agency, named the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, can dole out $300 million a year in grants for 10 years. That sum makes it the biggest state-run research project in U.S. history.
