California's stem cell institute, the best-funded in the world, has not had an easy birth. Since taxpayers voted to create it with a US$3 billion bond issue in 2004, a string of lawsuits, staff churn, and internal wrangling has slowed its progress in promoting research. A fresh embarrassment has now entangled its chairman, Robert Klein. The Sacramento Bee has called for his resignation over allegations of conflict of interest.

The latest kerfuffle involves a scientist on the oversight board, John Reed, who urged the institute to reverse a decision after it had denied a US$638,000 grant to a researcher associated with his institution. This was clearly a violation of the institute's conflict of interest rules. To make matters worse, his lobbying was approved by Mr Klein, who is a lawyer and should have been more sensitive to the issue. Klein, says the Bee, should step down: ” His divided loyalties, his disregard for public processes and his imperious nature have driven off institute staff and created a bunker mentality at what should be a world-class scientific institute.”

David Jensen, editor of the California Stem Cell Report, broke the story in his blog. He feels that the fallout from the incident will be “considerable and long-lasting”. He says that “Klein has played into the hands of the foes of human embryonic stem cell research, who love to conjure up demons who fiddle with funding and abuse the public trust. They now can simply point to Klein and Reed as proof.” ~ Sacramento Bee, Nov 25; California Stem Cell Report, Nov 25