Californians passed a ballot measure in 2004 that allotted three billion dollars in state bonds to fund stem cell research for ten years.
Kevin McCarthy of the California Stem Cell Agency says it will need to find other ways to get money for a critical stage of research when the bonds run out.
“We’re getting it through what they call 'the valley of death,' the point between when they have a really good idea, and where they’re able to prove that this idea works," says McCarthy.
"So the big pharmaceutical companies and others will be able to say ‘okay we can take over from here, this is a really good investment,'" he says.
The agency says its money goes towards the study of almost forty different kinds of diseases.
More than $60 million was just awarded to University of California labs and Stanford for the study of cancer, macular degeneration, and the creation of tracheas for transplant.
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