A Santa Ana businessman Thomas Yuen, chief executive officer of SRS Labs has become the third prominent figure since July to make a major donation for human embryonic stem-cell research at UC Irvine, a school trying to become a mecca is that area of medicine.

Yuen is a UCI alumnus who also heads PrimeCell Therapeutics, an Irvine-based stem-cell engineering company.

“The gift comes with no strings attached,” said the 54-year-old Yuen, who has kidney disease. “My illness exposes me to a lot of people who are sick and suffering. And I believe stem-cell work holds the promise of treating a multitude of age-related and chronic diseases.”

Embryonic cells have the potential to become any of the more than 200 types of cells in the human body. Researchers are trying to figure out how to program the cells to treat diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as spinal cord injuries.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has loaned the state stem-cell agency $150 million in state money to help promote the research until the lawsuit is resolved. UCI recently said it would ask for about $26 million of that money. And Keirstead announced that he is trying to create five new lines of embryonic stem cells to provide a greater diversity of samples for scientists to work on.

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