Researchers in Japan and Wisconsin have figured out how to reprogram skin cells into stem cells. I’m obviously unqualified to offer too detailed an assessment, but the science press seems to be treating this as a watershed.

The issue, of course, is that stem cells, heretofore, have required the destruction of embryos — which the pro-life crowd considers ethically abhorrent. The practical problem this solves, however, as Wired explains, is eliminating the need for eggs:

If it works, the technique — technically known as somatic cell dedifferentiation — promises to solve the two great downfalls involved in producing embryonic stem cells: the controversial destruction of embryos and reliance on a limited supply of eggs.

The former issue will likely get all the attention, but in the long run the latter may be more important. Ethical debates and political controversy has stunted research — most notably, President Bush banned federal funding for research on embryonic stem cell lines developed after August 2001 — but the rise of state-funded programs, and the less-conflicted approach of other countries, is making this less of a problem.

There is, however, no easy answer to a limited egg supply. At present, a personal embryonic stem cell line — one that your body wouldn’t reject as foreign — can only be produced by putting a cell nucleus of your own into a fertilized egg from which the original nucleus was removed. Spare eggs are produced by women undergoing in-vitro fertilization — enough for researchers, but not enough for everyone.

But if all it takes to produce an embryonic stem cell equivalent is, essentially, a flake of skin, stem cell therapies will be that much more accessible, that much cheaper.

Great news for anyone who could ever benefit from stem-cell therapy. Also good news for Republican politicians, who can now be relieved of the burden of holding at least one scientifically backward position.