LOS ANGELES, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The first major stem cell research center in California will open next week as the state steps up its efforts to promote stem cell research, it was announced on Saturday.
The center, run by the University of California in Irvine (UCI) near Los Angeles, is the first major stem cell research facility in the region, the UCI said in a statement.
The 80-million-dollar, 100,000-square foot Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center will house dozens of lab-based and clinical researchers, who will offer stem cell technique courses and graduate-level programs in biotechnology, said the statement.
The school says stem cell therapy will give hope to millions of people worldwide who suffer from such debilitating condition as spinal cord injury, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.
Stem cells are basic human cells that can be grown and developed into body tissues, including those for spinal cords and organs.
"We realize the importance of the mission of this new, state-of- the-art facility presents to us," said research center director Peter Donovan. "We know stem cell research and regenerative medicine represent hope to millions of people, and we aspire to fully deliver on their potential."
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) allocated 27.2 million dollars to the project, according to the statement.
The institute was created by California voters through 2004's Proposition 71, which allocated about three billion dollars in state funds for stem cell research.
California philanthropists Sue and Bill Gross made an initial 10- million-dollar gift that the campus leveraged to attract the CIRM award. The remaining funds came from additional private support and the University of California.
Former President George W. Bush had limited embryonic stem cell research to existing strains and prohibited scientists from developing new ones from embryos left over from in vitro fertilization.
But California defied Bush's limitation by creating CIRM to continue research in the field.
