Scientists Turn Human Skin Cells Into Stem Cells

This news, reported by various sources, including this article, is a stunningly important development in the whole realm of stem cell research and cloning. It means that embryos are not the only source of stem cell material. The research is so promising that Dr. Ian Wilmut, the famous embryologist who cloned Dolly the sheep and started the whole cloning frenzy, has announced that he has given up using embryonic cells and is following the lead of the researchers from Japan (and other places) who have shown the promise of non-embryonic cells in creating stem cells.

In short, there is another way to gain stem cell material for research into cures for disease and help for the injured, and it is a way that avoids the harvesting of embryos for experimentation.

UPDATE (12/1/07)
This commentary in the Washington Post by Charles Krauthammer reminds us that the President's choice to oppose continued embryonic stem cell research has been scientifically vindicated, as well as having been the morally correct position to take.