Over at the Weekly Standard, Wesley Smith is affronted by the mainstream media’s apparent failure to headline the success of a recent adult stem cell trial in the U.K.

While applauding Geron Corporation’s failure to make good on the promise of therapy based on embryonic stem cells, Smith complains that the media does not give proper coverage to adult stem cell successes: The media have always been in the tank for embryonic stem cell research, often breathlessly reporting hype and spin from company PR spokesmen as if it were hard news. This approach sprang largely from the media’s antipathy for the pro-life movement, the most prominent opponent of research requiring the destruction of human embryos.

“On the very day that Geron packed its bags, for instance,” Smith adds, “the news broke of a hopeful adult stem cell treatment for heart disease. It was a big story in the United Kingdom: The headline in the Telegraph called it the “Biggest Breakthrough in Treating Heart Attacks for a Generation.”