CIRM grant revived for putative human pluripotent stem cells

In a post titled Once rejected $1.7 million grant is resurrected , californiastemcellreport notes the revival of a previously-rejected grant application to CIRM. The application is RL1-00642-1: Derivation of New ICM-stage hESCs. [ICM is inner cell mass.]

From the abstract:

Recent studies in the derivation of rodent pluripotent epiblast stem cells and their molecular characterizations have provided strong evidence that the conventional human embryonic stem cells may represent a distinct, later developmental stage, i.e. late epiblast stage, than the conventional murine embryonic stem cells, which is a “capture” of the ICM stage. Those two stages (i.e. ICM/pre-implantation stage vs. epiblast/post-implantation stage) of pluripotent stem cells are typically maintained in their self-renewal state by different sets of exogenous signaling molecules.

californiastemcellreport stated: The latest summary of the review of the application says that its "technologies and methodologies are not novel and not particularly innovative." But the review also said other aspects of the proposal are "laudable" and that it has "significant potential." One wonders if the reviewers know what the word "innovative" means.