Stem Cells: Scientific Facts and Fiction

by Christine L. Mummery, Anja van de Stolpe, Bernard Roelen, Hans Clevers

Overview

The second edition of Stem Cells: Scientific Facts and Fiction provides the non-stem cell expert with an understandable review of the history, current state of affairs, and facts and fiction of the promises of stem cells. Building on success of its award-winning preceding edition, the second edition features new chapters on embryonic and iPS cells and stem cells in veterinary science and medicine. It contains major revisions on cancer stem cells to include new culture models, additional interviews with leaders in progenitor cells, engineered eye tissue, and xeno organs from stem cells, as well as new information on "organs on chips" and adult progenitor cells.

In the past decades our understanding of stem cell biology has increased tremendously. Many types of stem cells have been discovered in tissues that everyone presumed were unable to regenerate in adults, the heart and the brain in particular. There is vast interest in stem cells from biologists and clinicians who see the potential for regenerative medicine and future treatments for chronic diseases like Parkinson's, diabetes, and spinal cord lesions, based on the use of stem cells; and from entrepreneurs in biotechnology who expect new commercial applications ranging from drug discovery to transplantation therapies.

• Explains in straightforward, non-specialist language the basic biology of stem cells and their applications in modern medicine and future therapy
• Includes extensive coverage of adult and embryonic stem cells both historically and in contemporary practice
• Richly illustrated to assist in understanding how research is done and the current hurdles to clinical practice

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780124115675
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Publication date:	05/23/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	448
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Christine Mummery is a Professor of Developmental Biology at Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands and head of the Department of Anatomy and Embryology. Her research concerns heart development and the differentiation of pluripotent human stem cells into the cardiac and vascular lineages and using these cells as disease models, for safety pharmacology, drug discovery and future cardiac repair. Immediate interests are on developing biophysical techniques for characterization and functional analysis of cardiovascular cells from hPSC. She was recently awarded a multimillion grant for this purpose and is awardee of a prestigious European Research Council Advanced Grant. A member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Science, and former board member of the International Society of Stem Cell research and the Netherlands Medical Research Council, she’s editor in chief of the ISSCR journal Stem Cell Reports and is also on the editorial boards of Cell Stem Cell, Cardiovascular Research and Stem Cells.

Anja van de Stolpe is Medical Scientific Advisor and Research Fellow (Senior Director level) at Philips Research. She is by background a registered clinical internist specialized in hematology with 10 years of experience in clinical internal medicine and hemato-oncology / blood coagulation in academic and peripheral hospital settings. A current research interest is innovative molecular diagnostics, especially related to oncology. She is scientifically involved in multiple translational research projects within Philips Research, ranging from circulating tumor cells to sequencing and array-based diagnostics, and oncogenic pathway modelling. She is also actively involved in Business Development, for which she received the Philips Research Entrepreneurs Award. She is cofounder and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the stem cell company Pluriomics; and a co-founder of the European School for Science Education (ESSE) for post-academic education of medical specialists.

Bernard Roelen is Associate professor at the Department of Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University in Utrecht, the Netherlands. His research is focused on mammalian germ cells, early embryos stem cells and. He is author of >70 scientific publications.

Hans Clevers is obtained his MD degree in 1984 and his PhD degree in 1985 from the University Utrecht, the Netherlands. His postdoctoral work (1986-1989) was done with Cox Terhorst at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of the Harvard University, Boston, USA. From 1991-2002 Dr. Clevers was Professor in Immunology at the University Utrecht and, since 2002, Professor in Molecular Genetics. Since 2002, he is director of the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht. He has been a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2000 and is the recipient of several awards, including the Dutch Spinoza Award in 2001, the Swiss Louis Jeantet Prize in 2004, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Katharine Berkan Judd Award in 2005, the Israeli Rabbi Shai Shacknai Memorial Prize in 2006, and the Dutch Josephine Nefkens Prize for Cancer Research and the German Meyenburg Cancer Research Award in 2008.

Table of Contents

1. Biology of the cell 2. Embryonic development 3. Of mice and men: History of stem cells 4. What are stem cells? 5. Origin of stem cells 6. Types of stem cells 7. Cloning: History and current applications 8. Clinical applications of stem cells 9. Cancer stem cells 10. Applications for drugs and toxicity screening 11. Venturing in stem cells (law and intellectual property) 12. Future prospects

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Illuminates the emerging field of stem cells for a growing audience beyond the lab

Editorial Reviews

Winner of two British Medical Association 2011 awards: BMA Board of Science Award for the Public Understanding of Science and First Prize in the category of Basic and Clinical Sciences

"Stem Cells: Scientific Facts and Fiction provides the reader background information on stem cells in a clear and well-organized manner. It provides the non-stem cell expert with an understandable review of the history, current state of affairs, and facts and fiction of the promises of stem cells. It distinguishes itself from the multiplicity of websites on the subject of stem cells by being scientifically, politically and ethically neutral, explaining pros and cons for stem cells of every sort with the intention of reaching a wide readership ranging from advanced students and patient advocacy groups to clinicians, specialists and early phase medics in training. By providing the background scientific and social information, it provides readers with the information they require to form their own opinions on the use of stem cells on the basis of facts rather than hype."—British Medical Association Board of Science Award for the Public Understanding of Science Copy excerpted from BMA website

From the Publisher

Reviewer: Joanna Goral, PhD (Midwestern University)
Description: This is a comprehensive and accessible overview of the history and recent developments in academic and clinical stem cell research. With the many advances and new developments in this dynamic field, this update of the 2010 edition is fully justified.
Purpose: The book extensively reviews the scientific facts about stem cells and their remarkable promise in developing new treatments for cancer and chronic diseases of old age, in drug discovery, and their application in biotechnology and tissue engineering. The authors also address ethical issues that surround the use of embryonic stem cells and warn about fraudulent stem cell practices that continue to increase.
Audience: The intended audience is diverse, including students and scientists, as well as nonbiologists, who are interested in this field.
Features: Among the many publications in the field of stem cell biology, this book is truly important because of its accessibility to a general audience. The opening chapters introduce the basic biology of the cell, describe embryonic development, and define and characterize different types of stem cells. Subsequent chapters are devoted to applications of stem cells in regenerative medicine, the significance of stem cells in cancer development and treatment, new developments in human disease models, personalized medicine, and drug discovery. Applications of stem cells in veterinary medicine are also discussed. The field of stem cell research offers great promise, but is mired in controversy and the authors present all sides of the debate. They also devote an entire chapter to "stem cell tourism," a practice among patients who pay large sums of money for often unproven stem cell therapies.
Assessment: This is a valuable resource for both biologists and nonbiologists interested in the history and the state-of-the-art developments in the field of stem cell research and its applications. The writing style is quite engaging, and numerous illustrations help to explain the concepts. Many historical, informative, and anecdotal vignettes enliven the book.

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