USC scientist charged with molestation
A renowned gene therapy scientist pleaded not guilty Tuesday to
molesting a young girl he instructed in martial arts. Dr. William
French Anderson, 68, director of the Gene Therapies Laboratories at
the University of Southern California’s Keck School of
Medicine, remained free on $600,000 bail.
Considered the father of gene therapy, Anderson was Time
magazine’s runner-up for man of the year in 1995.
A grand jury indictment unsealed on Tuesday charges Anderson
with a single count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under age
14 and five counts of committing a lewd act upon a child from 1997
to 2001. The girl is now 17. Prosecutors filed similar counts after
Anderson was arrested last July at his San Marino home, but later
sought a grand jury indictment to expedite the case.
Cities vie for stem cell headquarters
SAN FRANCISCO “”mdash; Several California cities plan to offer
inexpensive or free office space in hopes of luring the
state’s prestigious stem cell headquarters.
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine will dole out
$3 billion in research grants and open a 15,000-square-foot office
with a maximum of 50 employees.
San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego and other
cities are jockeying for the headquarters and are expected to offer
incentives ranging from free rent to discounts on nearby hotel
rooms.
Compiled from Bruin wire services.