Government-backed research for Geron?

However, unless new methods for deriving those cells are identified, the commercial fruits of that research will likely be owned by a single company, Geron Corp. (GERN, Menlo Park, Calif.). No matter who funds the work, GERN has a license to ES and EG cell technology developed by the University of Wisconsin and Johns Hopkins University, currently the only groups to have published the derivation of these cells.

There are several reasons why researchers may be eager to get their hands on pluripotent human stem cells. According to the NIH, such cells will be useful for generating specialized cells and tissue for transplantation to treat Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, improving understanding of human development and what goes wrong to cause birth defects and cancer, and testing drug candidates for toxicology and safety prior to testing in animal models and human beings...