By Joseph Rodota and Bernard Munos

Former state Assemblyman and Sen. Art Torres, vice chairman of the Center for the Institute of Regenerative Medicine, recently floated a $5 billion trial balloon. As his agency awards the last of $3 billion in bonds approved by Proposition 71 to support stem cell research, he said, perhaps voters should be asked in 2018 to approve up to $5 billion in additional bonds.

Torres said the agency is “starting” to show results, with 27 clinical trials underway for new therapies to treat blindness, HIV, heart disease and several types of cancer. But progress should be measured in more than the education of new scientists, the creation of new research centers or in the progress of clinical trials.

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