LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- California's stem cell research institute Friday announced its first stem-cell research grants, more than two years after its creation was approved by voters in the state.

    The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), which is charged with handing out some 3 billion U.S. dollars in stem cell research grants over a decade, said it approved 72 grants for stem cell research in the state totaling about 45 million dollars over two years.

    The amount is nearly twice what the institute originally planned to give in this round.

    CIRM earlier planned to give out just 24 million dollars in this round, but because it received many high-quality grants, the group approved 72 grants rather than just the 30 it originally planned for, officials said.

    A spokesman for CIRM said the higher dollar figure also reflected some pent up frustration about legal delays to the grant process.

    CIRM chose the 72 grants from 231 applications asking for some 138.3 million dollars for 36 institutions in California, and it is expected to award up to 80 million dollars in additional grants in March.

    Stanford University received most grants among all the recipients announced Friday, winning 12 grants totaling 7.6 million dollars, followed by the University of California at San Francisco with 8 grants.

    Researchers receiving the grants have proposed a wide range of studies to better understand human embryonic stem cells. For example, one Stanford researcher plans to study what happens to the cells when they are injected into the damaged hearts of mice.