New interdisciplinary volume focuses on advances in stem cell research (6/8/2009)

The cover of 'Control and Regulation of Stem Cells' shows human stem cells differentiating to neurons. - Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

In a variety of organisms, from zebrafish to fruit flies to humans, stem cells have the potential to differentiate into a variety of tissues--and, in some cases, to give rise to a complete new organism. Stem cell research, therefore, has attracted the attention of a range of biologists--reproductive biologists, cancer biologists, cell and developmental biologists, and others--who have all recognized its importance and therapeutic potential.

A new book from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Control and Regulation of Stem Cells, reviews the latest advances in stem cell research from a variety of scientific perspectives. Chapters in the book are based on presentations by world-renowned investigators at the 73rd annual Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which was attended by 465 scientists from more than 30 countries.

"Progress in stem cell research is now extremely intense," wrote the meeting organizers, Bruce Stillman, David Stewart, and Terri Grodzicker, in the Foreword to the book. "It therefore seemed appropriate to focus the 73rd Symposium on this important and rapidly developing field, providing a unique synthesis of the exciting progress being made in the field of stem cell biology, not only for the Symposia attendees, but for a wider global audience via interviews freely available on the world wide web, and, we anticipate, for readers of these Proceedings."

The book is divided into ten sections, each with 5-8 chapters on a specific topic: Germ Cells and Totipotency, Niches and Asymmetry, Embryonic Development and Multipotent Progenitors, Reprogramming Somatic Cells, Gene Expression and Transcriptional Networks, Epigenetics, Adult Stem Cells, Neural Stem Cells and Brain Tumors, Stem Cells and Cancer, and Renewal and Regeneration. The book concludes with a summary of the field, and includes a discussion of future challenges for translating basic research into clinical applications.

Control and Regulation of Stem Cells is also available online (www.cshl-symposium.org). Libraries that purchase the hardcover edition are entitled to unlimited web access to it for their students and staff. Interviews with various speakers from the symposium are at http://meetings.cshl.edu/chats/symposium08/.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

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