This is a huge story if it pans out, and the headline is exactly right. Researchers create stem cells without destroying embryos. I’ve never been as upset about embryo destruction as many want me to be, but if this can take that issue off the table, it will make it much easier to forge ahead. In fact, what’s great about it is that it seems to be a much more promising technique than nuclear transfer:

…it’s not such a surprise that Ian Wilmut, the man who cloned Dolly the sheep a decade ago, recently said he has been persuaded to give up his own cloning experiments, thanks to news of Dr. Yamanaka’s successes.

“Any scientist with basic technology in molecular and cell biology can do reprogramming,” says Dr. Yamanaka. “If we can overcome the issue [of having to use dangerous viruses to ferry the genes into cells], many more people will move from nuclear transfer to this method.”

As the article notes, it’s surprising how quickly they got to this ability. We could conceivably see it in action within a decade, and perhaps within a very few years. Good news for those of us still in relatively good health. It may significantly accelerate our progress toward actuarial escape velocity.