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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2001/08/31/MN12589.DTL
Donor cuts off $60 million to Stanford
Entrepreneur upset by limits on stem-cell study
Kelly St. John, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, August 31, 2001
Netscape founder Jim Clark is withholding $60 million of his $150
million contribution toward a biomedical research center at Stanford
University in protest of federal restrictions on stem cell research.
The billionaire entrepreneur made his startling announcement in an
opinion piece published in this morning's New York Times. Stanford
University President John Hennessy, who was told in advance of
Clark's decision, alerted his faculty late yesterday.
The university has already broken ground on the center, which will
marry several science and engineering disciplines to develop new
cures for disease. The center is named in Clark's honor.
"Congress and the president are thwarting part of the intended
purpose of this center by supporting restrictions on stem cell
research and cloning," Clark wrote in his op-ed article.
"It now seems that creating genetically compatible new skin cells
for burn victims, pancreas cells for diabetics, nerve cells for
those with spinal cord injuries and many, many other potential
advances will soon be illegal in the United States."
Clark did not shut the door to reinstating the gift in the future.
Instead, he said, he is suspending his pledge "pending the outcome
of political deliberations."
University officials were brisk last night and refused to comment on
Clark's decision.
In a prepared statement to be released today, Stanford President
Hennessy said the university is "saddened by Mr. Clark's decision."
"Mr. Clark's initial $90 million gift will allow us to continue to
build this vital center," Hennessy said.
Stanford scientists will continue to pursue embryonic stem cell
research, Hennessy wrote, but they are "justifiably concerned" that
restrictions on stem cell research and a potential ban on
nonreproductive cloning will slow progress for promising clinical
therapies.
"We are hopeful that continued progress in stem cell research . . .
will lead to an evolution of government policy and eventually to a
resumption of the funding of Mr. Clark's pledge," it said.
Clark was an associate professor of electrical engineering at
Stanford from 1979 to 1982.
In 1999, the maverick visionary who founded Silicon Graphics,
Netscape, Healtheon and MyCFO pledged $150 million to build the
research center -- known informally as "Bio-X."
At that time, Clark's gift was the largest single donation to
Stanford. He said he hoped the gift would help merge new
technologies with advances in gene splicing and tissue growth.
Construction on the 225,000-square-foot building is already under
way, and it should be completed by 2003. In 1999, university
officials estimated it would cost more than $200 million to
complete.
Among the center's goals is the integration of basic and applied
sciences to develop better artificial ears, eyes and other
prosthetic devices. By merging new technologies with advances in
tissue growth, researchers hope to grow heart cells or even entirely
new hearts and other organs.
Other areas of work include gene splicing advances to alter
undesirable genetic characteristics like a predisposition for sickle
cell anemia.
In his statement to university colleagues, Hennessy said Clark
reassured him that the decision to suspend the donation has nothing
to do with Stanford.
Indeed, in his Times op-ed piece, Clark had strong words about
President Bush's Aug. 9 decision that federal funding will be
available for research on human embryonic stem cells, but only with
cell cultures established before that date.
Bush said he will not allow federal money to pay for the study of
stem cells derived from new embryos, even if they were created in
fertility clinics that will otherwise be discarded.
"Who can say, in such a nascent field, that existing lines will not
die, that they will not become contaminated, or that they have not
already specialized in unknown ways?" Clark wrote.
"With no prospect of federal support, significant research in a
field of scientific inquiry like stem cell research will stop."
Researchers say stem cells taken from human embryos can also
potentially be developed to repair damage caused by Parkinson's
disease, strokes and other maladies.
Chronicle staff writer Peter Hartlaub contributed to this report. /
E-mail Kelly St. John at kstjohn@sfchronicle.com.
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