President Obama advanced the causes of medical research and good sense on Monday.

He reversed President Bush’s illogical executive order that limited federal funding for embryonic stem cell research to just a few cell lines.

Bush’s order held back research that scientists believe will lead to a better understanding of diseases — and eventually to treatments and cures.

Bush said the government should not pay for research that involves the destruction of human embryos.

But the embryos in question are the products of fertility procedures. If not used for those procedures, they are either frozen indefinitely or destroyed.

Jim and Virginia Stowers, founders of Kansas City’s Stowers Institute for Medical Research, witnessed Obama’s signing of his executive order in the White House on Monday. The invitation to them was a fitting tribute to their commitment to seeking cures.

Researchers at the institute primarily use endowment monies, not federal grants. But because researchers build upon one another’s work, Stowers’ scientists will benefit from the increased opportunities created by Obama’s order.

Even after Monday’s positive developments, more work is needed to remove barriers to medical research.

Because of a 1996 law, scientists still can’t use federal funds to initiate a line of cells from an embryo created in a fertility clinic. They must work with lines created by private companies or other governments. That’s a serious impediment.

Researchers are barred by the same law from using federal money to create embryos through a laboratory procedure called somatic cell nuclear transfer.

 Those restrictions will continue to hinder scientists in their quest for discoveries.

The 1996 law was an overreaction to the threat of human cloning. The creation of a human baby through cloning should assuredly be banned. But the law should be rewritten so it doesn’t encumber meaningful medical research.

Even as researchers in Missouri applauded Obama’s action, they worried about efforts by some groups and legislators to overturn a state constitutional amendment which says that all scientific research that is legal under federal law should also be legal in Missouri.

Without that protection, the state and its research institutions would miss out on opportunities that will be made available by a more supportive administration in Washington. Sensible politicians and citizens must make sure that doesn’t happen.