Here are 11 books that Stem Cells For Dummies fans have personally recommended if you like
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I spent my career in developmental biology: the science of how embryos develop. My main discovery was the discovery of one of the signals that controls development, called the fibroblast growth factor. Stem cell biology grew up on the basis of previous discoveries in developmental biology, and now, every day, people around the world use fibroblast growth factor among other substances to control the development of their stem cells. From 2007-2012 I was Director of the Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota, so I got a good inside view of the whole field.
This is a beautiful book written by a great team from Utrecht in the Netherlands. It starts with a potted introduction to cell and developmental biology. I like this because, as a developmental biologist myself, I know that it is the basic science underpinning stem cell biology. It explains embryonic stem cells and cloning. Before covering transplantation therapy it explains about immune rejection of grafts and how this is dealt with. Unlike most books on stem cells, it covers non-therapeutic applications such as the study of human development or the use of stem cell-derived cells for safety testing of drugs.
The first and second editions had fabulous colour pictures all the way through. Sadly the 3rd edition has been downgraded to black and white.
Stem Cells: Scientific Facts and Fiction, Third Edition, provides a state-of-the-art overview on the field of stem cells and their current applications. The book incorporates the history and firsthand commentaries in the field from clinical and research leaders, covering interesting topics of note, including the first clinical trials to treat Parkinson disease, macular degeneration, and corneal replacement, the cloning of monkeys, the organoid field, and CRISPR-edited genomics. In addition, coverage of adult, embryonic stem cells and iPS cells is included. This new edition distinguishes itself from the multiplicity of websites about stem cells with a broad view of the field.
I spent my career in developmental biology: the science of how embryos develop. My main discovery was the discovery of one of the signals that controls development, called the fibroblast growth factor. Stem cell biology grew up on the basis of previous discoveries in developmental biology, and now, every day, people around the world use fibroblast growth factor among other substances to control the development of their stem cells. From 2007-2012 I was Director of the Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota, so I got a good inside view of the whole field.
This is a popular book, focusing on human interest but still scientifically reputable. Its main theme is the ethics, law, and politics of stem cells, mostly from a US perspective. It describes the debate in the USA about embryonic stem cells and how it polarized the nation. It covers many examples of political maneuvering to establish rules and regulations. It also has an international dimension and describes the legal position in countries around the world. I like it because I was in the USA during many of these debates and feel the book nicely captures the atmosphere of the controversy.
Today's scientists are showing us how stem cells create and repair the human body. Unlocking these secrets has become the new Holy Grail of biomedical research. But behind that search lies a sharp divide, one that has continued for years. Stem cells offer the hope of creating or repairing tissues lost to age, disease, and injury. Yet, because of this ability, stem cells also hold the potential to incite an international biological arms race.
The Stem Cell Dilemma illuminates everything you need to know about stem cells, and in this new edition the authors have included up-to-date information on scientific…
I spent my career in developmental biology: the science of how embryos develop. My main discovery was the discovery of one of the signals that controls development, called the fibroblast growth factor. Stem cell biology grew up on the basis of previous discoveries in developmental biology, and now, every day, people around the world use fibroblast growth factor among other substances to control the development of their stem cells. From 2007-2012 I was Director of the Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota, so I got a good inside view of the whole field.
You don’t often get philosophers delving into the biomedical sciences. They mostly prefer physics and cosmology. But there are great pickings in the other sciences too!
Laplane considers the various proposed attributes of stem cells and classifies these as categorical, dispositional, relational, and system-based. She concludes that stem cells do comprise a "natural kind" i.e. a real thing, out there, not just a figment of our imagination. What emerges from this critical evaluation is that we should think not about stem cells as such but about stem-type behaviors that may be shown by various cell populations in specific circumstances. Defining stem cells is slippery and difficult, but defining stem cell behavior is relatively easy, and stem cell behavior is real and important.
An innovative theory proposes a new therapeutic strategy to break the stalemate in the war on cancer. It is called cancer stem cell (CSC) theory, and Lucie Laplane offers a comprehensive analysis, based on an original interdisciplinary approach that combines biology, biomedical history, and philosophy.
Rather than treat cancer by aggressively trying to eliminate all cancerous cells-with harmful side effects for patients-CSC theory suggests the possibility of targeting the CSCs, a small fraction of cells that lie at the root of cancers. CSCs are cancer cells that also have the defining properties of stem cells-the abilities to self-renew and to…
I spent my career in developmental biology: the science of how embryos develop. My main discovery was the discovery of one of the signals that controls development, called the fibroblast growth factor. Stem cell biology grew up on the basis of previous discoveries in developmental biology, and now, every day, people around the world use fibroblast growth factor among other substances to control the development of their stem cells. From 2007-2012 I was Director of the Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota, so I got a good inside view of the whole field.
A little-known gem! Howard Green was a pioneer of research with stem cells from the skin. Back in the 1970s, he developed methods to grow them in vitro He went on to use this technology to enable treatment for very severe burns which covered too much of the body to make grafting feasible. The text is rather terse but this is a remarkable laboratory and clinical vignette from one who was there.
In this book the author describes the discoveries in his laboratory that led to therapy with cultured cells. The first cultured cell type used for therapy was the keratinocyte of the epidermis, for the treatment of burns. Subsequent developments led to the use of cultured cells for the treatment of diseases of the eye, of the joints and of other diseases. Cultured cells for therapy are now being prepared by industries in the US, Japan and Korea and are used in the aforesaid countries, as well as in France, Sweden and Greece, for the treatment of disease.
I have expertise on this theme because I've devoted the last almost thirty years of my life to body healing and a soulful path. I've studied the physical body and have a bachelor’s and a master’s degree to reflect those studies. But I needed a deeper understanding and I wanted to find healing laws that didn't apply to the average set of eyes. I spent a lot of years in pain, suffering from severe anxiety and panic, and I needed any help I could get to help me rebuild myself and reclaim my life into something powerful and independent. These books served as my guides in the creation of a brave and soulful path.
I am recommending this book because it’s a must-read for every single person who has something in their life that needs to be recovered and healed. I became friends with Amy after finding her books and she is truly the real deal. A young woman who had end-stage Lyme disease with no more hope of surviving it, went to India for a possible life-saving stem cell treatment that had an equal chance of killing her as it did of saving her. She takes us with her through India and through her treatment. When she went through all of this, she was not yet a writer, she was just trying to save her life. Now she shares with the world everything she had to learn in order to do that. Her story is heartwarming, terrifying, hilarious, and also heartbreaking. If you or anyone you know is faced with some sort of…
"A heartwarming and inspiring story that will change the way you look at life." -Vikas Swarup, New York Times bestselling author of Slumdog Millionaire
"An Eat Pray Love-like memoir." -Pam Grout, #1 New York Times bestselling author of E-Squared
When doctors have all but given up, when a diagnosis eludes you, and when every test result raises more questions than answers, how do you save yourself?
By the time Amy B. Scher was twenty-eight-years-old, she had lived through almost a decade of misdiagnoses, excruciating pain, brain lesions, bone marrow biopsies, blood transfusions, and multiple hospital stays to treat her late-stage,…
I have expertise in the area of spirituality and alternative health from working for over 20 years as a shamanic practitioner, spiritual teacher, and healer. I have travelled extensively and trained with many renowned teachers all over the world. I also provide ancestral healing and train students to be ancestral healers. Through my own healing journey, I have studied many healing and alternative approaches to wellness. I have studied extensively with plants and herbs. In 2020 I wrote my award-winning book Illumination of the Shadow, which explores ancestral healing. I have always had an interest in books in the mind, body, and spirit area, and read extensively in this area.
I recommend this award-winning book written by a woman who fought cancer successfully 3 times. In this book, she demonstrates bravery and expertise in this subject. This book is exceptionally written with a lot of research within and outside the medical field. Despite her own challenges, her compassion shines through. From reading this book, I found it very healing to understand cancer and how following certain protocols can help the disease to remission. I love how this book helped my friend affected by cancer and many other people, and I sense the author has saved many lives
The value I got from the book was an understanding of how cancer works and whether affected by cancer or not, how making changes in our everyday life can help aid remission and aid healing of the body.
After being given a terminal diagnosis with only a few weeks to live, Jane threw herself into research. Already medically knowledgeable as a Chartered Physiotherapist, Jane dug up research, some decades old, in her quest to survive. Rather than aiming to cure cancer, which in many cases is unachievable, Jane�s approach was to stop it growing. Remarkably her approach not only stopped it growing, it disappeared altogether. There are now clinics following her protocol, achieving remarkable successes. This book is a game-changing new dawn in the treatment of cancer.
Not just a page-turning inspirational read, Jane�s remarkable life story is…
I practised risk, resilience, and protection of infrastructure systems for 35 years. Mid-career, I became frustrated that we could deliver highly successful projects yet didn't deliver their ultimate purpose. This difference is particularly pronounced in war zones and the developing world, where most of my work has been. My research at the University challenged what I knew: it was as if someone had taken my heuristic understanding and cast the components like a pack of cards into the wind. I have shared some highlights in my journey to gather the cards. I hope you like them.
There are some excellent books on risk like Bernstein's Against the Gods. The majority are insipid reads and over-simplistic. This little book stands out for its simple, clear, condensed overview of risk in theory and practice. It doesn't try to simplify to the point of complicating the subject; it presents the inherent complexities without drama. I made it required reading for my risk & resilience students and employees. It offers a sense of how risk changes with interpretation and how the perception can itself influence the occurrence and impact. If this idea of risk perceptions and how it influences decision-making strikes a chord with you, you might wish to explore more of Baruch Fischhoff's work—it is utterly fascinating and will forever change how you buy vehicle insurance and salmon.
We find risks everywhere-from genetically modified crops, medical malpractice, and stem-cell therapy to intimacy, online predators, identity theft, inflation, and robbery. They arise from our own acts and they are imposed on us. In this Very Short Introduction, Baruch Fischhoff and John Kadvany draw on the sciences and humanities to explore and explain the many kinds of risk. Using simple conceptual frameworks from decision theory and behavioural research, they examine the science and practice of creating measures of risk, showing how scientists address risks by combining historical records, scientific theories, probability, and expert judgment.Risk: A Very Short Introduction describes what…
As a kid, I never stopped asking “But why?” Learning the answers always led me to new questions, and I’ve been on a life-long journey to understand the world, and how everything works. I wanted to give the joy of discovery, and the empowerment of understanding, to a new generation of readers. The amazing story of evolution seemed to be a great starting point. I wrote the book I wanted to read to my own daughter, full of adventures and grown-up science, told in a way kids can understand.
The Story of Life is a good introduction to the history of life on Earth for younger readers. Introducing Earth from before life existed, it traces the changes in the planet as life begins to develop, then bloom, then flourish in every possible niche. There’s a thorough treatment of dinosaurs, which will be a favourite section for many readers. The illustrations are energetic, clever, and funny, with enough detail to let kids read and re-read as they catch every little interaction on each page. A handy time-tracker on the bottom left of each double-page spread keeps you oriented in time as you turn each page. Along with a glossary at the back, this book makes a great introduction to evolution for kids in the early primary years.
This wonderful book introduces children to the story of life and how it all began. Using bitesize text and beautifully bright illustrations this is the perfect book for budding scientists and those eager to learn more about our amazing planet.
Are you ready for an exciting and dramatic story about how life began and developed on Planet Earth? Packed full of fascinating facts and funny illustrations, this is the perfect introduction to life on earth for even the youngest of readers.
At first, nothing lived on Earth. It was a noisy, hot, scary place. Choking gas exploded from volcanoes and…
I am a scientist who has worked at the coal face of the debate around the origin of animals and ‘Snowball Earth’ his entire career, using a combination of experimental and descriptive science. Over three decades, I have witnessed first-hand how careful attention to detail in study after study has removed doubt from once provocative, even crazy, ideas that are now widely accepted. I love reading popular science from the perspective of the hands-on scientist who has witnessed the debate first-hand and contributed to received knowledge by conceiving new experiments, amassing data, and, more than often, in entirely unexpected ways through sheer curiosity.
I cherish this book as I can dip into any part of it and will always learn something new.
I have always been fascinated by the origin of things, and there is nothing more fundamental than the origin of life itself. Nick Lane is on the front line of such research and brings a lot to bear down on this question, from his own laboratory experiments to theoretical biochemistry, all without a hint of condescension. Nick wants to take the reader with him on a personal journey to discover why we are here, and this is a journey I wouldn’t miss for the world.
The Earth teems with life: in its oceans, forests, skies and cities. Yet there's a black hole at the heart of biology. We do not know why complex life is the way it is, or, for that matter, how life first began. In The Vital Question, award-winning author and biochemist Nick Lane radically reframes evolutionary history, putting forward a solution to conundrums that have puzzled generations of scientists.
For two and a half billion years, from the very origins of life, single-celled organisms such as bacteria evolved without changing their basic form. Then, on just one occasion in four billion…
I’ve long been fascinated by how life unfolds from a single fertilized egg cell containing just one set of DNA, whether it’s a human, mouse, frog, worm, or anything else. While studying for my PhD in the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, which combines brings together researchers working on development and cancer, and spending twelve years in science communication at Cancer Research UK, the world’s largest cancer research charity, I came to see cancer and development as two sides of the same coin: one process unfolding healthy life as egg becomes embryo, and the other ultimately bringing disease and death as a single cell grows into a deadly tumor.
Written for a more academic audience than the other books on this list, although still highly readable, I’d recommend Adaptive Oncogenesis for anyone wanting to go deeper into the underlying evolutionary principles that explain why we get cancer when we do. James explores how the disease is fundamentally hardwired into our human biology, how the processes of evolution shape how cancer starts, grows, and spreads through the body, and new ideas for more effective approaches to treatment.
Popular understanding holds that genetic changes create cancer. James DeGregori uses evolutionary principles to propose a new way of thinking about cancer's occurrence. Cancer is as much a disease of evolution as it is of mutation, one in which mutated cells outcompete healthy cells in the ecosystem of the body's tissues. His theory ties cancer's progression, or lack thereof, to evolved strategies to maximize reproductive success.
Through natural selection, humans evolved genetic programs to maintain bodily health for as long as necessary to increase the odds of passing on our genes-but not much longer. These mechanisms engender a tissue environment…
