A California judge has refused to dismiss two lawsuits that have stopped the state from issuing $3 billion in bonds to back an ambitious stem cell research program. Approved by voters a year ago, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has been idled by suits that claim the program is unconstitutionally structured and would operate without proper state oversight. The litigation is now headed to trial. However, directors of the program say they plan to raise a $50 million bridge loan to start funding stem cell research in January. And, they add, the judge's decision--while falling short of the summary judgment they had asked for--rejected key arguments made by the groups opposing the project.
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