August 31, 2006 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The $25-million gift to the University of Southern California from the billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad is just one of several recent large private donations that support human embryonic stem-cell research, reports Forbes magazine (September 4).
Private donors — including Michael Bloomberg, Ray Dolby, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and the Starr Foundation — have given $120-million since 2002 to support the research, three times as much as the amount spent by the federal government, which five years ago prohibited money from being used for many stem-call experiments.
The work involves extracting cells from a four- or five-day-old embryo that have the ability to develop into any kind of cell or tissue type in the human body.
Scientists believe embryonic stem-cell research has the potential to heal illnesses and conditions such as diabetes and spinal-cord injuries.
But without more support from the federal government, the money that philanthropists have given so far is barely enough to keep embryonic stem-cell research alive, the magazine says.
The research has been controversial because abortion opponents say that, since embryos are destroyed in the process, it is comparable to taking a human life.
The magazine notes that such controversies may be keeping foundations from supporting the research.
In the same issue, the magazine takes a look at Stephen Bronfman, who keeps a lower profile than other members of the Bronfman family of philanthropists, even as he contributes some of the profits from his private equity firm, Claridge, to charity.
With little fanfare, Mr. Bronfman, the son of Charles Bronfman, a well-known Jewish philanthropist, started a foundation in 1999 that donates to environmental, educational, and Montreal-area causes, the magazine says.
He has also participated in fund-raising events to support medical research on breast cancer, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and cystic fibrosis.
Mr. Bronfman tells the magazine that he splits his time evenly between business and charity.
The articles are available at http://www.forbes.com.
