Cell diversion

Science | Hype over embryonic stem cells is driving funding from more promising, but politically incorrect, research

Actor Christopher Reeve inspired the disabled to dream of recovery where once they only hoped to cope. Nine years after a crippling horseback riding accident, the Superman star regained some breathing, moving, and sensing abilities through intense therapy. If he never walked again, he did become a moving testimony—prior to his cardiac arrest and death on Oct. 10—for spinal-cord-injury research, increasingly dominated by a high-profile campaign advocating the healing power of embryonic stem cells.

Pushing the cause has clouded not only a presidential point of difference but also the real potential for stem cells. Sen. John Kerry appealed to voters' compassion for Mr. Reeve as a way to argue for expanded federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. "Chris Reeve exercises every single day to keep those muscles alive for the day when he believes he can walk again—and I want him to walk again," Mr. Kerry said in the Oct. 8 presidential debate. Mr. Reeve died two days later after suffering a heart attack at his New York home during treatment for an infected bedsore wound. At 52, the actor and activist is survived by his wife, Dana, and a 12-year-old son, along with two adult children from a previous relationship.