Banking on stem cells
Biotechnology’s potential includes economic benefits for area
By Lisa Eckelbecker TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
leckelbecker@telegram.com
Gary S. Stein, chairman of the University of Massachusetts Medical School Department of Cell Biology, says a stem cell bank could help the Worcester area. (T&G Staff/JIM COLLINS)Enlarge photo
WORCESTER— Some of the biggest hopes for economic development in Massachusetts lie in some very small cells.
Yet as Gov. Deval L. Patrick pushes for a 10-year, $1 billion investment in life science research and development, including money for a stem cell bank in Worcester, some university and business officials say they are still trying to project the economic impact of such an investment.
There could be intellectual property benefits and the formation of new companies, said Dr. Michael F. Collins, interim chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. But as for
numbers, he said, he’s still working on that.
“What I’m attempting to assess is really the impact on the statewide economy, because we view the medical school as a statewide resource,” Dr. Collins said.
Coming up with a projection could be no easy task. When California voters approved a 10-year plan to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund stem cell research, competing projections came up with different outlooks. One group suggested the state would reap income tax and sales tax revenues of at least $240 million from spending on research and facilities, additional tax revenues of $2.2 billion to $4.4 billion if the initiative brought additional private investment into California and up to $1.1 billion in royalty revenues from products developed through the initiative.
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