LOS ANGELES (Map, News) - California's stem cell institute has granted nearly $271 million to 12 universities and research centers to build new research laboratories.

In 2004, Californians approved Proposition 71, a measure that created the California Institute for Regernerative Medicine, a $3 billion stem cell research agency. The institute says the new labs are needed to house the glut of researchers who flocked to the state to study stem cells.

The largest grant announced Wednesday for a single campus will be $43.6 million for Stanford University.

Nearly $137 million in funding will be divided between eight University of California campuses, with UC San Francisco drawing the largest share at $34.9 million.

The San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine will get $43 million, and the Buck Institute for Age Research will get $20.5 million.