Barack Obama’s campaign was based around the idea of change and now that he’s been elected it looks like he’s getting around to changing things. Yesterday he lifted the ban on stem cell research that Bush put in place.

“Today, with the executive order I am about to sign, we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers, doctors, and innovators, patients and loved ones have hoped for, fought for these past eight years,” Obama told reporters at a news conference at the White House on Monday.

“We will lift the ban on federal funding for … embryonic stem cell research.”

The long-promised move will allow a rush of research aimed at one day better treating, if not curing, ailments from diabetes to paralysis — research that has drawn broad support, including from notables like Nancy Reagan, widow of the late Republican president Ronald Reagan.

Under Bush, taxpayer money for that research was limited to the 21 stem cell lines that were created before Aug. 9, 2001. But researchers have said that these lines have, in many cases, had some drawbacks that limited their potential usability.