reporter: the california institute for regenerative medicine or cirm is about to enter a crucial stage in stem cell research. going to clinical trials. the most promising experiments could cure diabetes, hiv, sickle cell an neem ya, and blindness in the elderly. you don t really get to find out whether the potential of the treatment is really going to be effective until you start to treat the patients. reporter: cirm s board is discussing how much to allocate for that trial phase. through the 2004 voter-approved bonds under proposition 71, it has already given out or spent half of the $3 billion. despite the medical promise, though, there s little to show for it beyond basic research and several high-tech labs. but the agency says the breakthroughs will come over the next few years, way ahead of the rest of the world. this would all be happening in california. all driven by this proposition 71 money. reporter: the bond money is expected to last only several more years.